Faster than the Wind
by ShyKneeStardust
Summary: Cress has retired for a very special reason... to get married! A large percentage of the world attends this special day, but what do his brothers feel? Chilli finds out his repsects are growing much too much for his new sister and their family may be breaking apart.Especially when he will be leaving Unova to live with her forever! Sequel to Airy Fairy Feeling
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- Pokémon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and his company, not me.

Announcements

"It is to say with great amazement and displeasure that I am retiring."

This news took the whole world by storm.

Unova had just suffered a psychological criminal association's wrath and was recuperating from it. It was needless to say they were doing very well and it wasn't such a problem at all. What was the problem was that two years hence, a lot of leaders were resigning and many others were taking place. A few of them retired due to age, but the last few who were definitely shocking the world for good.

Cress, Chilli and Cilan were retiring despite being 25 year olds, rather they were quitting and this was very unlike their usual demeanour. The three were retiring so early, that definitely was quite a shock to the whole world in general. As it is so many leaders were leaving, so this was definitely a hard news to bear. Of course, the reasons given were heavily distorted, unlike the others persuasions.

"I am sorry about such a hard decision, but there are a lot more capable and clever leaders who are taking our place. I am sure they will do a much better job of taking care of Striaton City than we have. After all, if we couldn't protect our city from criminals, what good are we as leaders?" Cilan explained to the distraught public. That was the last of news they ever heard from him, for it was Cress who announced that they were retiring in the first place.

To the news, this was a warped decision. After all, the whole city had been plagued by this true, but so was the whole country being under the criminals' clutches. Why such a sudden dip of confidence? But the leaders didn't look sad; rather happy. This was definitely a great place to agree that they were handing over the city to better protectors, or if not them at least the Elite Four.

"Politics in the pokemon world was such; the gym leaders were the de facto rulers of their cities, whereas the Elite Four not only governed over all of them, but even the towns minus leaders as well. So even if the city were to be leaderless, it wouldn't be anarchist; the elite four would still be there for protection. What's the worry?" Cilan continued.

As they left, they press were still hounding them, more so because lots of leaders were leaving and their reasons were vague. But who would ever understand the heart of a celebrity, and more so; who would ever understand the real motive of this decision?...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Shocking Meeting.

Of course, this vagueness only spread rumours. Ambiguity was often a good way to keep people excited or thinking; and this certainly set the barrier. Soon, rumours were circulating and there were many versions of the truth, but of course who knew? A few people had an uncanny idea, but this of course was for a whole blessing of serendipity and grace altogether.

Cress had calmly walked into the gym leader conference where many other leaders were waiting and for once, they were having this without Alder. They all eyed him rather suspiciously, but it didn't unnerve him. Rather, it made him happier that they all knew, or at least seemingly knew the real reason he was here.

"Good morning! Isn't today such a lovely day?" he asked cheerily. Skyla slumped down due to the heat while Elesa just rolled her eyes. "I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. "All this while you were just lounging about and you never ever told us?!" Cress looked at her blankly. "For what, love?" he asked her innocently only to be punched onto the head. "About your retirement, moron!" Skyla retorted as Clay just sat there apathetically with Brycen who seemed pretty serious about something.

"Are ya sure?"

"Yes, gym leading is rather stressful and I have gotten nothing out of it."

"Don't be... yer ain't serious, are ya?"

"If I wasn't, would I even be talking about it?"

Cress looked around for his brothers who were unimpressed by his fashionably late fiasco. He just stared blankly "What's going on, guys?" was all he spoke. "Don't you ever understand anything?" Chilli blurted out. "Some of us are retiring permanently and going to live a normal life, that's what! I'm amazed; you don't know? What a joke!" Cilan then nodded in agreement. "We had been reconsidering for far too long, Cress... and we accept!" he said smiling. "Accept what?" Cress asked stupidly only to be punched by Chilli. "Our resignation, that's what, moron!" he screamed until Cilan held him back. "Temper, temper." He cautioned while glaring coldly at Cress which unnerved him. The other leaders seemed busy until Brycen got up. "Yes, Clay- it's official. About time, I'm getting old." He said coldly and then went away for tea while Lenora and Burgh were busy with their husband and a painting respectively.

Skyla finally had energy to talk. "Seriously guys, are you sure? I mean this is a sensitive topic!" she spoke out while all leaders made themselves comfortable.

"Yes, sweetheart. Hard decision, but we have to. After all the leaders succeeding us have far more capabilities and smarts than we do, and maybe we should let them carve their own mark in the world." Lenora said calmly as she sipped on lemon tea. "But I don't even get it! I've seen people even older who are still leaders; why are you guys leaving!?" she screamed while almost holding back tears. Lenora sighed- she and Chilli had too much in common. Then she said "Well it is our decision and those kids are very capable." She answered.

"Well, high school kids you mean!" she wailed. Elesa sighed; Skyla still behaved like a child even though she was 22 years old. Lenora smiled "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll make a whole number of friends who will really care, darling!" she said sweetly while Hawes kissed her cheek. Then Clay questioned "Let me guess; Elesa, Burgh, Skyla and I are the only ones stayin'. Who's out?"

"Cilan, Chilli, Cress; then Lenora, Brycen and Iris. That makes four." Elesa said sporadically while seeing the rest of them just murmuring about and a dejected Cilan. "Are you okay, Cilan?" she inquired. "I'm just dandy!" he lied. Then Clay said "About time we come clean with why we're leavin'! There ain't gonna be no reason of the blues in 'ere!" The other leaders looked a little uncomfortable hearing this. "I'm leaving because I want to. It's final, Clay. Nothing is stopping me." Brycen said as he then read out a few drama lines, much to everyone's amazement. "I'm leaving because I realised that acting is my life and the same applies for Pokémon. The accident was far too disgraceful to return to acting in movies, but nobody said I couldn't make a concession." He said quietly.

"So you're a TV actor?" Skyla asked hopefully.

"No. I'm going to be a dramatics teacher." He said very sweetly which shocked everyone- Brycen wasn't that kind who would ever divulge his acting style even if his life depended on it! Clay himself was feeling faint "Are ya kiddin me, old bud?" he spouted. "No I am not. I got an offer from the Harwood Institute of Dramatics in Icirrus and I am all but glad to accept. As it is I'm tired." He answered and walked off, much to the others' dismay. Then the others piped up slowly about their retirement. "I'm leaving because of a very special reason." Lenora mumbled until her eyes were set onto a painting by Burgh.

"Wonderful painting, Burgh!" she complimented only to be rudely retorted "Keep away from this masterpiece! Foreign viewpoints will only tarnish it!"He yelled while keeping even Leavanny away. Then he mellowed "I'll show you later." Which made Lenora a bit saddened; Burgh always behaved this way with most people, especially her. As it is tons of leaders were retiring, herself included and as much as they were for different reasons, she expected to be treated a bit nicer; especially by him.

"Why are you guys leaving?" Elesa asked eating a cinnamon pie. Hawes blushed. "Well, we were thinking of this for a long time... and now were the best time... so we must say..."

"I'm pregnant!" Lenora announced while showing off her baby bump to all shocked leaders who then applauded her and hugged her in amazement. "Yay, congratulations!" Skyla exclaimed hugging her while Elesa embraced her too smiling and Clay said "Good luck with it, wumman!" smiling and Hawes kissed her once while the brothers were overjoyed and then pounced up to her with strange propositions. "Congratulations, Lenora! Can I be the godfather? I'll be a great one and I love kids!" Chilli proposed in almost dying excitement, which made her laugh. "You and kids? Don't remembered that happening, sweetheart!" Chilli was crushed hearing this. "But I really wanted to..." he said contritely as if he may almost cry. Lenora laughed "Chilli, you couldn't handle a kid even if your life depended on it! Especially since you are such a child yourself!" and burst into hearty, raw laughter which did make a few people stop eating and stare at her, even Burgh who just watched this whole thing while Chilli was fuming, but not with anger, with sadness and grief; it actually made him cry. Burgh smiled; this stuff was such wonderful muse! Then after she stopped laughing, he went back to painting.

Cilan was smiling away and then said "Congratulations, Miss Lenora! But isn't this going to be a dampener to your career?" She looked at him acidly "Cilan, family is something close to everyone craves for; I have only one chance to do this, I think now is the time." She explained and then spoke sweetly "You'll understand when you are married" which made him blush. Then they talked a bit about retirement, albeit still embarrassed, lying that they wanted some 'alone' time that didn't involve family.

Cress of course was still simpering like a moron until Elesa caught him and nudged him. "What's gotten into you? You've been acting a bit strange these days." She whispered. "Ah it's nothing very special. Just a mere trifle!" he answered shrugging. "It doesn't look like that!" she insisted, making him blush quite a bit and withdraw, making Elesa smile naughtily "Seems to be the love bug or the fantasia has caught you!" she sniggered making him blush even harder. "Well, it is something..." he mumbled when Elesa suddenly grabbed his waistcoat gently.

"There is something you're hiding from even me! Is it some guy talk?" she sniggered smiling even more. Cress immediately wavered that thought away. "No, it's to do with my retirement reason. It's really special; rather it's the main reason!" he confessed. Elesa then put her Honchkrow eye gaze on him. "Speak." She commanded.

"Well, the real reason I'm retiring..." he spoke a little shyly "Is that I'm going to get married!"...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Confession of Hope

"Well you see, I had been talking a lot to her these months lately and we were losing our initial touch of closeness,, but even talking to her in a cyber cafe was stimulating enough for me and then finally, we proposed simultaneously... and she accepted! That was probably the most glorious day of my life, so now we are all planning up for the wedding now!"

Elesa could only just stare at her second best friend in awe. What on earth was he thinking? Who was he getting married to anyway?

"Wheeeeeeeeeee! Who's the lucky lady?" Skyla gushed while hugging Cress like a maniac who almost died with the force she used. "I would tell you if you let me go!" he pleaded. Skyla then loosened her grip and saw all the other leaders watching them in amazement. "Well you see, Ella; I'm marrying someone really special and I did promise her to be secret about many details... so no." Cress said blushing indefinitely. "Tell me now!" Elesa ordered which worried him. "Oh alright. But you asked."

"It's my lady love of course; Fantina!"

By now, many of the leaders were gaping in shock and Skyla practically fainted. "Who the foreigner?" Lenora inquired while Cress nodded sheepishly. Elesa stared at him in wonder and then hugged him. "Oh my goodness, congrats! I'm so proud of you!" she gushed while hugging the scarlet Cress. The brothers saw on disdainfully and then after Cress stopped the hugs, spoke further.

"You know, I was going to plan all of this by myself, because Fantina told me to surprise her really well, so I agreed. Besides, we are going to be having a very unusual wedding anyway, so it's not that much of a problem." He confessed. "Like what?" came Elesa's reply.

"You know, I'll be doing stuff like picking our venue, food, guests, music and my clothes, so that isn't a problem. I want everything to be in ultimate perfection, you know how much I love Fantina, so I'll stop at nothing to make this a success and you have my word for it. You all are invited, and she's bringing some of her friends too! It'll be a blast, I promise! But you'll need to help me with my outfits..."

Elesa hugged him again."You idiot, of course I would! It's your most important day ever, I'll be really happy to do everything for you, man! Ask any of us, we'll be really happy to help! So who are you employing for the whole thing? I know some great designers!" she gushed while all the others crowded round him in amazement.

"Your wedding... I never thought I'd live to this day." Brycen confessed only for Clay to shoot at him an acid look. "Why this is amazing! I'm sure your bothers will be very proud of you!" Lenora gushed hugging the boy. "Jeez, this is exciting! You're becoming a man!" Skyla gushed. "Yer a great kid, boy! Meh hearty congrats to yer, boy!" Clay said proudly. Even Burgh came up to him and said "Why this is wonderful! Wedding someone like Fantina, with such elegant taste and perceptions, she is clearly your ideal match; as if made in heaven!" he gushed. "Congratulations, Cress. I am looking forward to it." Saying which he walked back to his painting while the others were still goading the boy with praise and congrats to his brothers, but of course what did they feel? Nobody knew or even wanted to. They were fuming in resentment of course; their brother was leaving them for some random woman whom they hated of course until a pageboy came in and screamed "The ship had landed to its destination!" Cress' eyes widened. "She's here! Elesa, could you please hitch a ride for me?" he inquired. She just snapped her fingers and a large limo came out and they went inside and drove off to the ports while the others followed suit. Soon they reached and saw a large ship right there with many other people departing from it. Cress immediately jumped out and there was a lovely sight. Fantina was there, same hairstyle and joyous attitude, but more was in it.

She was dressed in the most elegant robes of crimson with gold leaf flowers and long draped of satin adorned her dress, with bare minimum makeup, she still looked like an angel as she elegantly stepped out of the ship and held Cress'; hand which made him blush and the other leaders cheered and clapped while she smiled sweetly and greeted the three brothers with utmost pleasure.

"Cilan..." she said following which he grabbed her hands and bowed. "It is such an honour to see you again." He said gallantly. "You too, mon cheri." She replied and they two smiled. After this she went to Chilli with whom she was more vibrant. "Chilli!" she exclaimed as she hugged him really tight. "It is so wonderful to see you again! Tres fantastique, mon ami!" almost carrying him in joy; Chilli had a similar personality to hers, something that attracted the two deeply. "Man Fantina, you have no idea... I missed you like hell, man! Far too much!" he exclaimed joyously as he hugged his future sister in law. He almost cried, Fantina was too exciting and probably the only one who got him like ever. Cress smiled seeing this; she got along with both of his brothers. Then she walked up to Cress. "Pleasure, madame." Cress said clasping her hands. "Has it never been mon amour?" she asked before kissing him tenderly and embracing him. "Oh Fantina, I couldn't imagine how I managed without you... let's go to my restaurant!"

"I don't know, mon amour. I'm really tired." She said. "You know anywhere I can stay for now?" Cress smiled. "Our house!" he offered following which she blushed. "Oui, oui. I accept. The boys cheered. "Come on! There is so much I have to show you!" Chilli blurted while grabbing her hand and running off much to her surprise and later delight while Cilan followed. The other leaders were surprised; from their apparent dis-involvement with the whole conversation, they actually loved Fantina very much. Cress of course was grinning ear to ear. Elesa was gaping while Brycen blurted "She is going to be your wife?" Cress smiled and blushed. "Yes, she is. Am I not lucky?" Brycen was in awe. "By Arceus, she is beautiful!" he mumbled only to be punched by Clay. Cress giggled, but was actually pretty hurt- Fantina was supposed to be his only when it came to love.

"So, brought many friends over?" Chilli asked while racing off on his bike with Fantina and Cilan in tow. "Why yes, I have. I have many friends who were more than delighted to come over! Our wedding is going to be in 3 weeks; I'm so excited! I wonder how much your charming brother has done so far?" she cooed giggling while the two brothers tried faking a smile. They adored Fantina, for she was such a lovely and compassionate soul, yet they couldn't come to terms with this yet.

When they got home, Cilan fell asleep while Cress and Chilli didn't want to sleep yet. After touring Fantina round the house, Cress then said "Goodnight, my love. I'll be with you in the morning." And then he pecked her romantically while retiring off to bed, while Fantina sat on a couch. She then started watching something on television and then felt a little sleepy, but not enough. Soon Chilli came in yawning in his feebas pj's and a hot water bottle to see her still waking. "Not sleepy yet?" he inquired sleepily. "Jet lag gets to many people." She replied. He just smiled and turned the lights on. "I heard no light is bad." He said. Then he walked off to the fridge and got something out to eat. "How was your trip?" he asked. "It was good, but I was feeling mildly seasick. The waves were very rough. What are you doing here?"

"Got bored, couldn't sleep a wink. I think I have insomnia!" he replied while sitting with her. "Man, I wish I knew more people like you. I mean, you are probably the only person in the world who gets me!" Fantina looked at him in concern. "Why is that?" she asked. "Girls think I'm hot, but I only have a pretty face. I mean, they think I'm dumb and impulsive. I hate this! I'm already jealous! I mean, look at my brothers- Cilan is in such a happy, stable relationship with his girlfriend Iris and Cress of course has you! I mean, you are so beautiful and kind! Who wouldn't want you?" he blurted and then tears streamed down. "I wish I had someone like you!"

Fantina then clasped his face. "Chilli, finding love takes lots of time. It takes years at times. I had been through 3 boyfriends and one husband and yet never felt satisfied and happy until I met your brother. Sometimes you just have to keep looking for that special one, and when it comes; you'll be attracted to her instinctively and nothing will stop you at all. You are such a lovely person, Chilli. I'm sure someone will love your fiery determination, love for pokemon and looks and definitely your zest for life. I'm sure someone will love you and that person will be everything you need." She consoled him and hugged him.

"Chilli, I think you are a lovely person, don't worry about it." She spoke softly while he cried in her arms. She was probably the only person apart from Cilan whom he could be open with. Then when he felt better, he offered her a snack. "Care for doughnuts? They are custard filled and have good deals of sugar." He offered. "Oui I'd love to!" she answered as she ate those yummy deep fried delicacies.

"My my, this is fantastique! Who made this?" she asked midway. "Me!" he proudly proclaimed. "I ain't lying!" Fantina laughed. "I know you won't!" then they laughed. After that an awkward silence spread for a few minutes until Fantina felt tired and went to bed, before that taking a last look at Chilli and saying a strangely unnerving statement.

"I think you'll make a wonderful brother in law!..."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Reunion of Sorts

Fantina just couldn't stop talking about her friends to Cress who of course patiently listened. Listening was one of his innate skills and he also enjoyed her conversation, she was just too much of fun. He was really happy that someone like her was going to be his wife, so beautiful, charming and talented. At the same times, he was really panicky about the wedding, especially since he'd planned it for her as a surprise.

"Oh, Cress! You are such a wonderful young lad! I am so excited about our wedding! I was ready to marry you at any time, but you posing? Sucre bleu, that wasn't expected!" Fantina gushed while Cilan brought out some food for the four to share. Cress blushed "Who wouldn't want to be your husband, Fantina?" he asked her playfully and kissed her cheek. "All the same, I love surprises especially pleasant ones! I really would love to see what you did with everything!" she cooed and then started helping herself to a few hors d' oeuvres which Chilli prepared.

"You might not want to eat that, it's poisonous." Cress warned her from advance. Chilli did have poor hygiene. Fantina almost dropped it. "Escuse moi?" she blurted only to find Chilli attempt pinning Cress down. "You dare say that, you...! Poisonous, you say- okay I double axel dare you to eat every single bit of that then!" he shouted which made Cilan nearly tip everything over. "Chill, people. I got some lemonade and cookies. I apologise for the non-classy meal." He apologised while Fantina laughed "I am not that hungry, mon cheri! Besides, I'd love to eat cookies; I miss these delicacies!" Cilan blushed "Oh no need to be so flattering!" he insisted. Then with a twinkle in her eye, Fantina brought out her pokeballs. "I want my Pokémon too to savour this! Go Mismagius! Go Drifblim!" she called out to hers, and then they got out and she fed them lovingly which almost made Cilan choke with emotion- Fantina was too compassionate.

"I caught that, tough guy!" Chilli boasted showing off his picture. "Hey no- Get off!" he insisted while chasing Chilli around until Cress smiled and craftily produced his own equipment. "Watch this." He mumbled to Fantina winking at her. While the two were chasing each other like morons, Cress clicked a picture of Chilli and showed it to his lady love. "Check this out!" he said and there it was, Chilli was crying himself. Fantina just laughed heartily; Chilli could never hide his feelings from her even if his life depended on it and her pokemon laughed too. Cress was just zapped at her energy- she was a bundle of excitement and then he secretly cuddled her. Fantina felt her lover's arms on her waist and then she clenched his harder and just sat there in cuddling embrace until the two were totally bushed. Then Cress randomly grabbed out his own pokeballs and sent out his Pokémon. "Go Herdier and Simipour!" he yelled as they came out totally hungry. "Come on, boy- eat this!" he said feeding them some of Cilan's delicacies- which were of course- awesome!

He then lay on Fantina's shoulders and asked "Baby, when am I going to see your friends? Are they famous?" Fantina grimaced "I may be your lover, mon amour, but you should never ever call me baby- I hate it! It sounds a little trashy to me, you know it!" she scolded him making him flinch. "Sorry, love." He apologised. "Oh that's better, mon cheri. Now kiss me." She then grabbed his sleeve and started kissing him for quite long until the other two brothers saw them.

They immediately broke off on seeing this.

"Were we disturbing or something?" Cilan asked sheepishly. "No, not at all!" Cress said quickly. "Sweetheart, I have to leave to get my wedding stuff. I'll see you later, okay?" then he hugged Fantina and left in a hurry much to Chilli's surprise. "What's gotten into him?" he wondered as he then ran up to his future sister. "Say, how about we have a battle, you and I?" he suggested. "Oui, oui! I accept! I will not hold back. Go Mismagius!" she yelled to the mauve ghost. Chilli was confused. "I thought you had a Duskull?" he asked. "She is allergic to sunlight. Bring it on, brother!" she called out. Chilli's smile crooked. "Sure thing- Go Herdier!"

Meanwhile, Cress was at the finest sores round Unova busy making plans. "What kind of cake did you ask for?" asked Patty, his confectioner. "One with 6 tiers, white frosting and those tiny pearl hearts with that arched wedding candle; all in chocolate flavour." He answered quickly. "When do you want it for?" she asked. "Which made Patty turn pale. "Cress, why didn't you ask me over 3 weeks ago? I already have a gazillion orders right now, don't you know?!" she bawled which made Cress turn white. "P...Please?" he pleaded. "Sorry, pal. But I may be able to help you do a cake for... wait, who's getting married? Cilan?" Patty expressed. Cress blushed. "It's me. I'm getting married, that's why I'm so desperate!" he gushed which made Patty a little surprised. Then she jumped on Cress and hugged him. "It's that French woman, right? Congrats, cress! Finally; I'm so freaking happy for you!" she gushed and pressed him to death. Once she let him go, she then spoke out "Oh Cress, you know how many orders I have this time! But you know what, I may put a concession for you- you decide the cake and help me bake it to add a personal touch! I'm sure your wife will love this!" she suggested. Cress' face lightened immediately. "Yeah, sure!" he high fived her and then went out with Elesa who was waiting for him.

"Taking so long, eh?" she smirked. He smiled. "Nah. Let's move it!" he said and they sped off on their bicycles. One unique thing about those two was they travelled as much as they could on bikes together, which only enhanced their best friendship and got them very close. Soon, after 15 minutes they reached the boutique; the Life Linkers. Sounded more like a wi-fi store, but who cared? Its clothes were epic. Elesa led Cress inside and all the ladies stared at the two. "Now?" one hinted. Elesa shook her head. "For him, not me." She replied. The ladies immediately got him cutting edge fashions which made him look kind of cute, but of course Elesa had her own inhibitions.

"How about this one?" Cress asked when done changing. Elesa almost puked out her coffee when she saw this. Cress was dressed in a poofy suit which had ruffles pop out from the collar and made him look strangulated. "Damn, Cress; that sucks! Are you in the 1850's?" she burst out which made him mad. "Okay, fine. I'll try again." He sighed and tried on a new one. This one was different. The buttons were almost nil for the shirt, the suit was a dark blue and it looked rather hot with its fine creases and exposures. Elesa actually puked her coffee out this time. "This one?" he inquired. Elesa after recuperating spoke "Cress, this is horrible! I know you are young, but you'll practically freeze to death in this! Besides, you look better with your shirt buttoned!" she burst out which made Cress really embarrassed. This stuff really sucked. "Next, please!" she spoke. Cress sighed; he disliked shopping, but was too polite to say anything else- Elesa was a good shopper anyway.

She kept analysing the outfits very critically.

"Too heavy."

"Too tight."

"Too un-you!"

"My kids would probably wear that, too futuristic!"

"Too traditional."

Finally, exhausted Cress came out and she smiled. "Perfect!" she said in glee. Cress looked at the outfit himself. It was rather sleek, with a comfortable neck, nice creases on his suit and it was ain a rather alluring shade of blue-black. The best part was the cobalt blue tie in his opinion, but it looked classy enough to put a carnation in and even had silver buttons- slid silver which was protected from tarnishing. "This is freaking awesome! We're taking this!" she gashed and calmly placed her tab on the bill and then they got onto their bikes. "Keep the outfit and make sure Chilli doesn't exactly acidulate this or do something stupid. I paid over 5000 grand for this!" she warned. Cress laughed- his brother was a little to prone to disasters. Then they sped off home.

Cress was sighing in relief. Even a guy like him couldn't tolerate shopping after a point, but he was willing to go through the risks and turmoil. "My wedding with Fantina must be the most epic one ever! I will stop at nothing to do this. It must be perfect, it has to be perfect!..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Culture Lag

Sitting in there was often quite a drag, but this time it was not so much about that as much about this. It was a beautifully decorated house which Fantina had rented out for all her friends' stay in Unova, rather a very beautiful lavish and rich mansion! It was huge and overlooked the crystal clear waters of the rivers around and had tons of flowers, which of course was her obsessed friend Gardenia's ideal world of paradise! "This is epic!" she would often scream while the other leaders would just sit somewhere and look around and stuff.

"How on earth did she afford this?" A disgruntled Maylene asked out to the air. "Must be her new husband, he may be totally loaded!" Candice gushed while imagining how he may be looking- Fantina had loads of admirers and extremely sophisticated taste. "May be really rich, handsome, with an extremely muscular body..." she added on dreamily while staring at the window and thinking about her own loves. "Damn, I thought she was already married!" Wake stated to which Byron spat out "Have you never head of the word divorce?" The others winced- Byron of course knew that too well and he had to. "Geez this is the life!" Candice expressed while almost sinking into a huge Victini Plush chair. "We should get houses like this!" "Yeah, if they don't cost like a million!" Maylene spat out. Nobody else was really in a mood to say anything.

"I love this place! I should live here!" Gardenia yelled while throwing flowers in the air and checking out some pink camellia. Wake then walked up and glugged a whole bottle of iced tea. "Hey!" Byron yelled. "That was mine!" Wake just laughed. "You can always get more- did you check out that giant fridge?" "Must have thought about you when she rented this place!" Maylene teased. Candice struggled not to laugh. Wake of course wasn't one to get angry, but he had his own ways of punishment. "We'll see its effects... right about now!" he yelled and carried Maylene on his back making her squeal in delight. "Put me down!" she yelled. "Put me down!" Wake just smiled "You seem to be having too much of fun to say no. Let's go outside- I have to show you more moves!" Maylene screamed "Alright! I'm game!" while Wake carried her outside and the others promptly shut the door. Candice smiled- Wake was really close to Fantina, she would have definitely thought of him first while renting this place. Then Byron spoke up "This place is amazing! Especially the construction- so perfect, so well done! Fantina really does have good taste, what do you think Candice?" Candice looked up from her teen magazine while gushing "Unova guys are so hot!" Byron sighed- teenagers were impossible; he was glad he skipped that phase. Candice immediately saw Byron and straightened up. "Sorry, I was a bit busy! What were you saying again?" Byron sighed "I asked you if Fantina's taste was good?"

"Yeah, she has really good ideas! I mean, she is so kind and considerate- look at everything she would have done, everything suits our tastes! I mean Gardenia has this amazing meadow and landscapes, you have this epic construction and even a bowling alley, I have this cool girly stuff and hot magazines, Maylene has a whole room for training, Wake a huge river to hang around and play in and I don't know... Everything is perfect! Roark might like this place too, he craved a vacation!" she gushed which made Byron smile. "Yeah, true. Speaking of Roark, where is he? Roark!" he called out for him over 3 times but no answer. "Damn straight! Where is that kid when I need him?" he cursed. Then he saw Candice giggling. "What's that for?" he questioned. Candice was still giggling- "Roark's here, Byron! But please, be quiet!" she whispered. Bryon went over and of course, got the shock of his life- Roark was fast asleep in the sofa cuddling his Cranidos like a newborn baby. Candice smiled a lot seeing this.

"Poor lad, he really suffers from jet lag hard!" she spoke while Byron had a huge urge to scream out into his ears, but refrained. He looked rather cute asleep; just looked like a young baby. "Maybe we should let him be for a while, what do you say?" Candice suggested. Byron smiled and nodded. "Let's leave my boy be. He had such a hard day!"

A little later, they too were pretty bushed and Candice went off to shower. Byron watched over his sleeping son- he was young and sweet, something he was secretly proud of; for Roark was a very kind and gentle soul; which at times even melted his cold heart. He tucked his boy in like a little baby which made him cling to Cranidos and the blanket even more. Bryon was tempted to take a picture when he refrained and moved away just after kissing his son's forehead. Wake suddenly just slammed the door open and shocked Byron out of his mind.

"Would you mind actually knocking for once?" he roared while Roark woke up with a start and fell onto the floor. "I swore I heard something..." he muttered while putting Cranidos back into his pokeball. Roark grasped his heart as if it skipped a few beats. "Did somebody die?" he asked worriedly. "No, not at all son. Get back to sleep." Byron said quickly while Roark just lay on the couch trying to get out of that headache mania and Candice emerged from the shower. "Hey guys, sorry about the delay!" she apologised while sitting down and smiling at Roark. "Oh, you're awake!" she cheerfully replies. "How long was it? Where am I again?" Roark asks clasping his head. "We're here, in Unova. You were asleep for over I don't know- 10 hours?" she replied. Roark cringed- sleep problems were something he was a victim to.

While Maylene went for a shower, Wake then said brashly "I don't know about you guys, but I'm off to see Fantina." And walked out. "Then what the hell did you come in for?" Byron asked irritably. "Well, t just came to me mind, what do you say? We've been her best friends for over 23 years, it would only be fair if we did see her, what do you think?" Wake replied curtly. Byron relented. "Yeah, okay. Anyway, I'm dying to see that we chap she's marrying. How about we go and look for her, eh?" Wake nodded and they stormed out of the door while Candice screamed out "But you guys don't know the directions!" to an already fading twosome. She sighed and came back inside; travelling was something she didn't want to do at the moment. "Don't worry." Roark said reassuringly. "Directions are like the back of dad's hand."Candice smiled. "But this country, what do you think of it, it's so weird, so alien!" she expressed. "I have no idea. One reason I was dying to come here was to see Lenora; she is the owner of this epic museum and has been to excavations many times before. So that's one reason." He answered. Candice giggled- Roark was too obsessed over things like this.

"Anyway, the wedding will be exciting too! I really would like to see Fantina married too; pity that she divorced the other guy." He said while rummaging through a box of chocolate chip fudge cookies. Candice sighed a little uncomfortably. "Is something the matter?" he inquired. Candice then moved around a little scared. Roark promptly offered her cookies which she chomped on, but still a little distressingly. "You don't like cookies?" he asked while munching on his fifth while pulling Cranidos outside for some. "Here, come on! You love these, right?" he called out cheerfully while Cranidos immediately wolfed them happily. "You know, Roark; it's a bit personal. I don't want to talk about it." She said wistfully. Roark shrugged. "It's alright. I won't pry." And then went to play with Cranidos who immediately ate al the cookies flung to him. "Heavens, you are heavy! I have no idea what I will do when you evolve!"He laughed while nuzzling the rock dinosaur lovingly, making Candice blush- Roark was an extremely kind person and she really liked that about him.

"You know, I can tell you... but promise to keep it a secret?" she piped. Roark immediately lightened. "Usually I forget secrets." He replied casually making Candice laugh. While sitting down near him, she spoke "You know why Fantina divorced Juan, right?" Roark nodded. "Yes; she did it in this country's court."

"That girl whom Juan had an affair with, I know her." She blurted meekly. Roark turned round in amazement. "Shoot. I'm listening." He spoke seriously. "I'd have to, it was... it was me!" she confessed and then buried her face in her hands. Roark was shocked- Candice was never such a girl, he knew that. "Please, hear me out! When Fantina was introducing all of us to him, we all were really happy to meet him. She'd told us a lot about him and they were married for over a year, but she married him on the ship to Sinnoh and it was fairly publicised. When she got there, she had just come back from a vacation and we were really excited to see her married; it was a dream, really! I noticed her husband, he was really handsome and charming, something I really liked about him. Then we just hung out and I took a liking to him, but I was really irrational and stayed away from him. He apparently figured out what I felt for him, or was it just his own hormones, because..."

Candice's voice almost broke into a sob "He pulled me away from the party and in the dead of night, he started to make out with me! I kept protesting and told him to let go, but his grip only got tighter. He then told me that I have to keep quiet about this and he bribed me with gifts, I had no choice but to comply!" Roark was stunned- he always disliked Juan, but this side he never expected. "Did he do anything else?" he asked her compassionately. "No, he'd just keep kissing me and tell me I'm very ravishing, whatever that means. Then one day, Fantina caught him... I was very distraught and I was never ever myself for months after that, though I was surprised how she caught him; being so secretive and all." She confessed and then started crying. Roark was horrified knowing this- how could somebody like Juan ever be so... womanizing so much so with a sixteen year old? As it is he always disliked him and kept Gardenia at arm's length while hanging around him; for some strange reason.

Then as if instinct provoked him, he hugged Candice. It was purely friendly and just out of a compassion for a friend, something he was often poor at showing. She kept crying in his arms while Roark just let her pour out all her never ending sorrows out and just comfortingly patted her head as if soothing her into a lullaby. Even Cranidos tried to comfort her in his own special way while Roark was embracing his friend. "Don't worry about anything Candice. I won't tell a soul, alright? It's very brave of you to at least tell me, I think that was amazing, okay? It's alright, don't cry." His grip on her tightened, as if in a protective manner. Candice felt really comfortable telling him everything; he was one man whom she could trust her whole life with probably. "Even otherwise, Fantina knew it wasn't your fault, so why cry?" he spoke gently until Candice finally stopped crying and Roark released her. He wiped off her tears and offered her more cookies. "Thanks." She spoke in a broken manner and started eating them "They're good!" she commended.

Roark smiled- he could make even better ones at home. Baking was a secret speciality of his. Then Cranidos came inside and handed Roark something. "What's this?" he asked and on seeing his Pokémon's expression, smiled. "Cranidos got you a gift!" he said and Candice stared at it in wonder- it was a daffodil necklace. "It's beautiful! Thank you!" Candice burst out while trying not to cry and hugged Cranidos while Roark smiled. "You deserve that." He said following which Candice jumped into him. "Thanks, Roark!" she spoke. "Thank you!" He smiled. "You're welcome." Said he.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Roark stared in astonishment- Gardenia was right there and looked at it miffed. "Caught you, Casanova!" she spoke angrily while Roark just stifled a bit. Then he smiled and winked at her seductively, making her blush. "Oh Gardenia, I would never even dream of it!" he cooed and then pulled her in loving embrace, much to Candice's astonishment. Her mouth was wide open seeing this and then Gardenia broke it off. "Oh hi, Candice! I swear, have you been crying?" she asked. "Not much just suffered a bad burn. Roark was nursing it." She replied quickly. "Ah, right. My ever so compassionate lover isn't he?" she cooed while grasping his hand tightly.

"I told you to keep this a secret!" Roark bowled. Then he saw Candice and turned scarlet. "Ooh, am I seeing right?" he spoke naughtily, making even Gardenia blush. "Ask him- it was his idea!" she accused pointing a finger at him. He blushed even harder. Then, with trembling lips, they both spoke. "Candice..." Roark began. "I know this seems so sudden at the moment..." Gardenia continued.

"As I promised to keep your secret safe..."

"You must keep ours too."

"So, I know we were dying to keep this a surprise, but since we can't..."

Roark held up Gardenia's hands where on her ring finger lay a gold ring with tiny diamonds shaped like Cherubi and was cringing every second this was happening while Gardenia was blushing too, and then they both spoke out simultaneously, rather together.

"We're engaged!"

Candice was astounded by this revelation and at that very moment, Maylene came out along with the others who saw this entire scene, making Roark want to die that very minute as each of them gaped at the new couple. Wake beamed like a three year old child and Byron walked up to his son and pulled him close. "Congrats, son! You're now officially a man!" he gushed and hugged him hard. Maylene jumped up and down and hugged Gardenia. "This is soo cool! Congrats!" Candice too was amazed. "This is epic! I can't wait to see Fantina's reaction!" Roark of course said nothing- he was too embarrassed to speak another word. Them dating itself was a secret, but now that all leaders knew of their engagement, which was plain weird. All the same, Roark trusted Candice to keep secrets. They all celebrated at lunch and ate hefty shares while Gardenia clutched her fiancé's hand and Candice sat beside Roark. Wake and Byron were all excited about spotting Fantina, but told they couldn't talk to her that time and then it digressed to life in general.

While eating, Candice whispered to Roark "You know, Ro- I'll tell you how I was spotted that day. Someone helped me out there, came to my rescue. He saw me all this time and was strangely enough, determined to help. He was Volkner..."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- All Done and Out

"Hey there, honey! I'm home!" Cress' voice shot out into the air while Cilan almost shook his tray and Chilli dropped his glass bowls. "I was going to pay for that, idiot!" Chilli grumbled. Cilan sighed and went to Cress. "I'll help with the bags. Shopping in those boutiques again?" he inquired. Cress smiled and nodded. "Only the best deserve to partake in the best day of my life; after my birthday, of course!" came Cress' reply. Cilan just sighed and walked away and put his stuff on the table.

Then Cress walked up to Chilli and said "Sorry, brother. I would have helped you out, but let's just say that you're becoming too irresponsible for your own good." Then he walked away to look for Fantina who was playing with her pokemon. "At times, I still can't believe that she is going to be my wife!" he sighed dreamily. Cilan was getting mildly exasperated by this- he loved Cress and Fantina, but at times he as letting his guards own miserably.

"Say when is she introducing us to her friends? Are they hot?" Chilli drooled of the thought of stunning female gym leaders. "I don't know- she did say they will be a surprise. I haven't even seen her family yet!" Cress admitted to a stunned Chilli and Cilan. Seeing their shocked expression, he quickly added "I have to see her like now! Ciao!" and sped off to Fantina who was pretty surprised.

"Cress, mon amour! You are so late!" she scolded playfully. Then she hugged Cress tenderly who was blushing all over- she was so warm and kind. Then she peered into his bag. "And what is this I see?" she asked him. Cress quickly hid it. "It's nothing!" he replied. The Fantina's gaze grew a little colder. "Hiding something from me just before our wedding?" she inquired. Cress grew red. "No, it's nothing! That was just my wedding tuxedo, Elesa helped me with that!" he replied growing red all over. Then she burst out into laughter seeing the shy Cress blushing really hard. She laughed really heartily which almost made Cress a little excited until she spoke. "I would never, ever distrust you at all, Cress! Who would ever feel that way about you, amour?" then she pulled him towards her. "Always be mine, mon amour. That is what love is for, right? Je t'aime, Cress; Je t'aime." Cress then caressed her, which seemed a little odd, but the brothers were not exactly watching them. Then Cress lovingly spilt out "Je t'aime trop, mon amour!" and then got really mushy with her which was fine until Chilli came over and took a photograph which Cress could see a little away. He was shocked by his brother's behaviour and walked up to him, ready to assault him with the hardest of insults when Cilan calmly walked up to him and showed the picture of Chilli crying when Fantina was being plain cute.

"It's known as emotional blackmail. This is so going to be loved by the press!" he smirked which incensed Chilli. "You are so gonna die!" he yelled as he went chasing Cilan over every hill and dale while Fantina had a good, satisfying laugh and Cress giggled. "Your brothers are too cute! I would love to have such family, you know!" she sighed. Then Cress suddenly hugged her from behind. "So would I, Madame. So would I." And then the two started kissing each other pretty tenderly. After over an hour's chase, the doorbell rang and Cilan rushed off to get it.

"Elesa? What a surprise! We've been incredible humbled by this!" Cilan gushed as she entered. "You've been acting out of character lately, what's gotten into you?" Elesa deduced which reduced Cilan to a heavily embarrassed young man. "Elesa! Yay!" Chilli practically pounced on her and Elesa hugged back. "Great to see you too, Chilli!" she greeted and then released him. "I came here to see the future bride!" she gushed and lo- her prayers were answered when Cress and Fantina came out hand in hand to see the new visitor. "Elesa, hi!" Cress said cheerfully. "Hi, Cressie! I came here to see your wife... Fantina?" Elesa was gobsmacked seeing Fantina was still looking so young and youthful, in spite of being 47 years old.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Elesa! Comment allez vous?" Fantina greeted her new friend. "Just dandy!" Elesa replied. "You still look so amazing!"She gushed which made Fantina blush. "Merci be coup!"

"I cannot believe you were going to marry Cress, it just seems so quick, you knowing each other for just a year and all!" Elesa gushed while Fantina just smiled at her blushing boyfriend. "Well, love knows no boundaries, race or even time! True lovers often withstand the test of time." Cress stated which made Fantina hug him harder. Elesa as absolutely bowled over by this. "Awwww! That's adorable! You two really deserve to be together, no doubt about it!" she gushed and then hugged Fantina who was taken aback. "I wish you congratulations all the way, Madame Fantina!" she cooed while Fantina hugged her back. "Merci bien, mon ami. Merci bien!" she replied in her usual manner of speaking when Cress seemed a little distraught by this scene.

"Elesa... hands off my lover." He retorted playfully. Elesa then let go of Fantina who seemingly was gasping for air. "Honestly Cress!" she teased. "Don't be so defensive, it's only me!" Cress then winced, but Fantina giggled. "Mon amour, why are you so embarrassed all the time?" Then Chilli and Cilan shared a glance and Cilan stood up. Looking a little nervous, he walked up to Fantina and spoke.

"Err, guys- we have to talk alone. As in, we called Elesa over top talk about some stuff privately, is that okay with you guys if we could just.. Be alone for a while- Chilli, Elesa and I? It will be really handy if we could... it's okay if you can't, really! I'm okay with that! But it's just so important that only three of us have... It's not what you think, though!"

Cress and Fantina shared a quick glance. "Yeah, sure, why not? I mean, we have been torturing you two with far too much work as it is and even otherwise- Fantina, I have to show you my friend's cake shop, her stuff is delectable, it is exceptional!" he replied. "Oui, I would love to- I love eating this, gateau." She seemed really excited. The brothers smiled. "Thank you, guys." Cilan said politely. "De rien, mon ami. Don't mention it!" Fantina said sweetly as the two walked out of the door, while Cress was talking about sweets and chardonnay.

When they left, Cilan heaved a sigh of relief while Elesa stared gobsmacked. "I don't remember fixing any sort of appointment! And especially with me? What's your catch?" she insisted angrily. Chilli seemed a bit worried and Cilan hurriedly poured her some tea. Elesa raised an eyebrow. "Lemongrass flavour?" she inquired. They nodded hurriedly and Chilli quickly produced a bag of cookies which he laid on the table. "We have something super important to talk to you about- okay! I know it's a bit unexpected, but it seems to be high time and primordial for us to start somewhere, as or instincts decree..." Cilan began.

"Quit beating round the bush, Cilan, You know I hate that!" Elesa snapped.

"Basically, he wants to say- we want to talk to you about Cress. " Chilli interrupted. Elesa was seemingly interested. "Go on, what it is?" she asked. Cilan cleared his throat. "You know, Elesa we were practically plagued by this for eons now. You know that we retired for gym leading citing poor administration as our reason?" Elesa nodded. "Well, that was not our real motive. We had resigned because Cress is marrying Fantina and he is no longer interested in leading the gym anymore." Cilan confessed.

A look of shock and horror spread across Elesa's face.

"I know what you want to say- gym leading was Cress' life, but not anymore. You see, we had to forcefully retire because of this and it has really been irritating us no end. I don't know- it just seems so bland, life without gymming." Cilan continued while Chilli looked incredibly wistful. "Neither of us is interested in relinquishing the gym leader duties at all!" he stated. "That's why we are so incredibly ticked off!"

Elesa was still pretty shocked by Cress' erratic change.

"We actually wonder if we are really happy with the idea with Cress marrying at all, I mean he is only 26 years old!" Chilli blurted.

"Don't get us wrong though, I mean we love Fantina- she's really kind, compassionate and pretty and probably the best woman I've ever met, but I don't know- this seems to break our family rather tan make it; Cress and a husband? Puhleeze! Never happening!" Chilli blurted. Elesa didn't seem very pleased. "I know you are mortified, but we had to tell somebody; both of us are sharing the same feelings and we had to get it off our chest!" Cilan pleaded. Elesa just stared on until she finally spoke.

"So then guys, I don't follow one thing- if Cress doesn't want to be the leader any more, then why did you guys have to resign for that too? You guys can take care of business alone and he'll still be there to manage the restaurant; so why worry? He is a good cook, right?" Elesa reasoned. The brothers looked uncomfortable. "We can't do this without him. He's our brother and we stick in this like a family business!" Chilli said with flaming determination. "Besides, none of us want to leave the restaurant; it's our life, our soul! We can do without leadership, but not without our restaurant and our Pokémon! That is a fact!" Chilli stated. Elesa was deeply saddened by this. "I don't know, guys- I can listen to you, but then all the same, why can't you tell Cress of your wishes? He's very considerate; I'm sure he will understand; I can still return the tux, that's for sure!"

"We can't!" Chilli confessed. "It'll break his and Fantina's heart! Besides, we have to think about his happiness first as family!"

Elesa then saw him and fumingly caught his shirt sleeve. "For your information, Chilli- 26 years of age is a perfect time to get married, so stop thinking he is that immature! He has far more maturity than you and can be married at any time, okay! The whole world is not like you!" she fumed- Chilli was pretty selfish at times and this was not the first time.

Cilan saw this contritely "We frankly are more worried about them breaking up than making up; look at her, she's over 20 years older than him!" he confessed.

"But Cilan- don't you get it? They may be very different in age groups, but they are so close to each other, they love each other- it's so romantic! Besides, they have an immense number of similarities! So why worry? It only gets boring when they aren't compatible enough for each other- she has energy for almost all of us here!" she insisted while Chilli was gasping "Elesa, my shirt it'll rip!" Elesa just let him go and he fell flat on his face onto the table. While he nursed his aching face, Elesa went up to Cilan. "Look that stuff is history- okay? People are evolving now, women have more choices. Learn that and move on- both of them know too!" she stated.

"She is not your traditional housewife, so what? She'll still be there for Cress and be his life support partner for the rest of his life! Why should that worry you? I mean, initially you were excited for Cress' decision right?" Elesa protested.

"We would, if he actually asked us!" Chilli pouted. Elesa turned at him in disbelief. Then Cilan spoke out "You know, that gesture was plain inconsiderate! He didn't even tell us that he proposed to her already, let alone hoping that!"

"We knew he often used the computer to talk to her, but we never knew he actually tried proposing to her and she accepted without even telling us!" Chilli blasted. Elesa was shocked by this. Cress usually never was like this, but all the same it was pretty harsh.

"I'll go and extort a little more details from him, okay? I'll be off- see ya!" Elesa waved off to the disgruntle brothers while they shut the door.

"Secretly proposing and not telling them; being very prompt about the wedding, him... something is wrong. Time for a little more investigation!..."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Blissful Ignorance

It had been ages since Elesa walked so much. Patty's patisserie was a stunner with most people but damn, it was ridiculously far. Her Zebstrika was sick so she couldn't rely on her anymore, it's being sacrilege! So being a strange woman and with her bike being to conspicuous, she decided to play detective using man's natural commuter- walking. She walked off as fast as she could and then when she found the shop, started hiding behind the windows which fortunately, were tinted.

"Did you check up about the whole thing? I mean, we are getting married in 3 weeks now!" Fantina asked.

"Yeah, I did. I may not be able to buy a cake, the best one was out of stock; but I can bake pretty well, you know!" Cress boasted.

Fantina giggled. "You really do think up of everything!"

"There is more!" Cress stated. "You know, I wanted to do so much for you, Fantina! I wanted to get a whole palace booked for the wedding, so I got a beautiful place surrounded by lots of nature and a wonderfully whitewashed Greek style building! I wanted to know; how would you like it to be?"

Fantina just laughed and then cupped Cress' face in her hands. "Surprise me, boy. That's all I want from you." She stated and then pulled him in for a snog.

Elesa was flushed seeing this. "He really cares about her. I wonder how the wedding will turn out after all?" she wondered and stayed there until it was time for the two to leave. Then she hid herself real discreetly until she saw them walking outside, strangely enough not hand in hand. "Knowing how much they've been snogging each other, I really am surprised." Elesa wondered. She then followed the two love birds as discreetly as she could and overheard everything they spoke.

"Say, Cress- what would your brothers be doing? I hope they will be there, I love Cilan's cooking!" Fantina gushed. Cress smiled.

"You did tell me to surprise you, so no more details!" he joked.

"Look, mon amour; I have to get going. I'll see you a little latyer. My friends have been dying to see me and I haven;t met them since I last told them of my marriage!" Fantina informed.

"Au revoir." Cress said.

"Au revoir, mon amour." Fantina then kissed his forehead and scurried off to see the other leaders.

"For someone her age, she sure is active." Cress pondered. "Wonder how I will catch up to her." He just watched the sunset; it looked beautiful. Then, while just biting his lip in the wind, he heard a stick crack and immediately turned round in shock and there she was, his eternal best friend.

"Elesa?" he inquired. "What are you doing here?" Elesa flustered a bit. "Damn it, you recognised me?" she spouted. "Apparently, yes. You do have a taste for esoteric clothes." He observed sharply. Then he noticed her closely. "What are you doing?" he inquired. "I came over for a cup of tea!" Elesa lied hurriedly. "But you dislike tea! And you prefer cooking at home, right? Especially after feeling tipsy at Lucy Elian's pastry eating competition..." he retorted. Elesa grimaced thinking of that- it was probably the worst 3 hours of her life!

She joined an eating contest just for fun and some other leaders had secretly come over to Lucy's house; which wasn't much of a problem- she was once Marshal's girlfriend and they started it off. She was good and cooked amazingly plus there was so much to eat there- it was amazing! Sacher torte, black forest, tiramisu, truffles, pineapple pastry, cheesecake, caramel pastry and so much more! Tea was used for a mild washer instead of water. It was epic and everyone loved it, but by round 3 they all were tired of this whole thing and Elesa felt so sick, she promptly puked later on. Besides, it was a really bad idea and guess who the winner was- no surprise; it was Chilli!

"There is something fishy- you know I hate being cornered or lied to." Cress warned sternly. Finally, Elesa gave up. "Okay, look. Your brothers were concerned about you, so I offered to spy on you. Happy?" she confessed irritably. Cress was bewildered. "Spy on me? But I was just going to Patty's place!" he insisted. Elesa said nothing and then after a few seconds, beckoned. "Let's walk." She said. Cress said nothing and walked along with her on that road.

"I never knew you were interested in film noir! Cress expressed. "How else was I supposed to hide from you and not be mobbed as if I was the 6th Beatle? Elesa spouted angrily. Cress sighed. "Look, Elesa; I know that I may be the first one getting married, but that is no excuse to invade on my privacy. Besides, you and I never had chemistry- I realised that too late." They walked on silently for five minutes until Elesa piped up "So, what are you going to do for the wedding now?" Cress lightened. "Oh, that? I was thinking of asking Fantina about her previous wedding, but I thought- meh, that's being plain insensitive." He answered. Elesa's eyes widened. "She was married before?" she exclaimed. "You know so little about someone you claim to be your friend. I mean, she did divorce her former husband Juan because of adultery on his side." He stated tiredly. "Cite the reasons." Elesa ordered. "He did look like a womanizer from the very start, for Arceus' sake- I swore I saw him ogling at you during our match!" Cress answered.

Seemingly satisfied, the two walked for a while longer and discussed marriage ideas and plans. "What else is left for you now?" Elesa inquired. "I formalised the cake, the place and even our clothes. So that means, I need- gourmet chefs, decorators and a vicar. Plus I need musicians, but I doubt we have that much of money." He replied wistfully. "But what theme of wedding do you have? I mean you did what to surprise her!" Elesa asked. "I have no idea. Seriously, this whole thing is based on what I see in weddings!" he replied. Then his eyes lit up. "I remember Fantina telling me she wanted to see some of our pokemon. Say, how about we do this? I could get Pokémon to celebrate in our wedding! Not only will it be authentic, but it'll be cute and cost effective as well!" he gushed. Then super pleased with this idea, he hugged Elesa.

She just smiled and they discussed for a while about which Pokémon to bring in the wedding. "I think that Lilligant is a great deal, but Serperior? You may have to be careful with that one!" Elesa chuckled. "How about a few water types?" Cress asked hopefully. "It's your wedding- do it with discretion!" Elesa replied and then they continued talking until Cress said "You know, Elesa; I really am going to miss my brothers. I mean, they've been such amazing support, it'll be really sad to just leave without saying a decent goodbye!" Elesa's eyes widened.

"What did you say?" she asked shocked.

"Cilan is going to hate the fact that he is the oldest brother and yet I got married first." He chuckled. "I mean, seriously; he is mature enough, but if only he was more open about his love! Seriously, look at Fantina and me. We are so romantic close to all the time!" Elesa was still a little fazed by his previous statement. "Cress, don't digress. Tell me the truth, what's going on?"

"Talking of my wedding, that's what." Cress said stupidly.

Elesa then slapped him hard which made him flinch. "Elesa... why?" was all he could stutter. "Cress, you inconsiderate idiot- it's you family I'm talking about! Cilan and Chilli are _furious_ that you got married without their consent! Hell, not only did you not tell them about your wish, you actually proposed to her and then told them! How could you, Cress? It's totally out of character! Only three weeks ahead and you'll be a married man; how do you expect your brothers to digest that?!" she yelled.

Cress seemed contrite, but then said nothing. "Come on Cress! They aren't disappointed with Fantina, she's a lovely woman! But then honestly- not telling your family of their wedding plans? Are they lying about their opinions on the union or are you? Come on, tell me! I'll not tell a soul!" Elesa pleaded.

Then Cress spoke. You know, Ella ; a few months ago, when I was planning a lot; I was thinking- I am old enough to be married so I wanted a life separate from my brothers. I know they are horrified, but if I told them of what I really wanted to do, they'd be mortified. This is why I wanted to propose secretly; so that they have a certain grudge for me and distance themselves from me. That way, I disappoint neither party- brothers are satisfied and have their normal lives and Fantina and I start anew. It's as easy as that."

"You did want to move out, right? What's so bad in that?" Elesa inquired interested.

"It will be if you are planning to, rather decided leave the country forever." Cress answered.

He swore right after that, he heard something fall to ther\ground with a thump...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Friendly Wishing

"Maybe now, what do you say?" a manly voice spoke. "Yes, you are right." Another deeper, rawer voice replied. They nodded in assent and threw the door open where Fantina lay in her vanity chair, doing a few last touches. The minute she turned around though, she was in for that very big surprise.

"Surprise!" the first man yelled joyfully.

"Crasher! Byron! You came!" she exclaimed and then went to encompass them both in her arms while they smiled and did the same. She was absolutely consumed by happiness seeing the two of them, and they felt the very same. "So, how is the beautiful young bride doing?" Crasher joked with her. She smiled "Bien, tres bien. I cannot wait for my wedding day! But how did you know I'd be done changing?" she replied mildly bemused. The two men looked at each other and smiled.

"Let's just say we waited for over two and a half hours outside. So, we just stayed there, wondering... when will you be done? Then, using intuition, we deduced you'd have finished changing and lo- we got here!" Wake proudly proclaimed. Fantina burst into laughter- that was so typical of him, especially with her!

Fantina and Crasher Wake had been best friends since they were 12 years old, as she moved there. She often travelled to Paris and Bordeaux, her hometown, implying her intensity in French speaking, but Wake got her nevertheless. Fantina trusted him with all her heart and along with Byron, who came much later into the picture and faded temporarily. They had much reason to be the closest, having grown all the way to their forties together. Fantina then stepped away from the two and asked them "How do I look?"

The men were bemused, but analysed the dress anyway. It was very beautiful and spoke volumes of her personality. V strapped white gown it was, with the most delectable shades of pearlescent white and tinges of beige splattering here and there. Pink pearls adorned her waist and so did a glittering rose crest found right below the neck. The best though, was the murky watercolour like flowers on the skirt part. It was of a soft glimmering blue and green, strangely enough, but looked so beautiful as if she was the crowning artist's muse and the way it draped over her was beautiful. The flowers were mildly blended, with the green petals interlacing with the blue nectars centres and looking so beautiful, as if Fantina were a rich queen adorned in robes of pearl and glowing metal.

She turned round in excitement like a little girl which made the men smile- this as the classic Fantina- nothing could ever change that. Then she spoke out indignantly "How do I look? Am I not good, or am I? Hurry up, mon ami! I have not all day!" Wake blushed and Byron cleared his throat. "We are not really dress experts, you know!" Byron replied to a disappointed Fantina and then he broke into a smile "But you look ravishing, beautiful! I'm sure your husband will love to see you like this- it's just amazing!"

Wake then spoke out "Fantina- this dress is amazingly beautiful! I mean, it looks a bit like your contest dress, but you have clearly consulted an epic designer! The pearl effect, so angelic... you look like a shiny Milotic in human grace! This is a wonderful dress, you look spectacular!" Fantina blushed a little bit- they were the perfect people for anything! "I'm glad you liked it!" she gushed. The men said nothing, too embarrassed to speak. Then Byron popped out "You know, Fantina- you aren't due to marry until like 2 weeks more and you try it out now?" Fantina just laughed and threw her arms round him. "You will never understand the inexplicability of a woman's heart. It is to remain a mystery for every wandering soul round..." she teased which made him fluster. Then Fantina just twirled round in her wedding dress and then led the two to sit. "Care for tea, mes amis?" she asked joyfully. They politely declined, and then while Fantina removed her veil, jewellery and tiara, Byron asked her rather nervously "You know, Fantina- when you called us over to the formalities and all we were wondering- why us? I mean, the girls were invited too, yet you asked us. I mean, we are like 40 plus individuals and guys, so why?"

Fantina turned round and smiled. "Do you remember when I last asked you to do this?" she asked him softly. Byron seemed wistful while speaking of it. "That's because, I trust both of you. I believe in you guys too much. I love the girls, but I felt our friendships are closer, warmer, and more heartfelt... it just seems so natural... Je ne sais pas." She confessed. Both Wake and Byron were stunned- Fantina thought so much of the? This was getting a bit weird for both of them, but they chose not to show it.

"Aw, come on, Fantina! You're getting too sentimental!" Wake said throatily and then placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know, you're getting married and all, but come on! Second time could just be the charm! Besides, if anyone even lays a finger on even a hair on you... they're gonna be facing the luchador, my way!" Fantina was seemingly comforted by this- she wanted to stay in touch with them both forever! Wake was enthusiastically punching the air and she loved him for that reason- he was so joyful, enthusiastic and such a kind soul! Then she hugged the two of them hard, much to their surprise. "Je vous t'aime allement! What would I ever do without you both? You will always be my best friends, now and forever!" she gushed, almost on the bverge of tears.

A crying woman- the most frightening thing for a guy; even if she was their friend alone. All the same, they just hugged her back- she was their friend, rather best friend and this was the best they could do. Then she smiled and they returned it. "I'm off to change. Au revoir!" she said an then dried her tears, changing back into her usual dress in 10 minutes. "Women, never knew them, never git them, yet you can't help but love some, eh Wake?" Byron questioned. Wake smiled. "Yeah- especially her." He smiled seeing her come out. "So, come on! Tell us about your spouse! I mean you haven't spoken a word about him!" Wake proclaimed.

Fantina smiled. "He is such a lovely, kind, handsome young soul! You'll love him he very minute you set your eyes on him!" she said proudly, blushing a bit.

"That's great news! I heard a lot about your explosive romance- I was right! Vacations really can help once in a while! When you got back, I doubt seeing you this happy until the day you said you wanted children with that other guy..." Wake gushed, though a bit bitter on emphasising the last two words.

"Can we see him?" he pleaded.

"Sorry, amour. He's a surprise until the wedding day!" Fatina chirped cheerfully.

"How old is the fella?" Byron asked smiling.

"Young, very young! He has the face of a baby!" Fantina gushed. Byron smiled- she had very unusual, yet beautiful choices in love.

"I had a feeling you'd be into these guys. How much of a disparity? One, two years? Maybe five!" Wake asked excitedly.

Fantina seemed hesitant. "He isn't older than me, you know!" she mumbled.

"Then how much, maybe your age or something?" Wake asked.

"Actually, Wake; he's younger than me!" she confessed. Byron gagged on his tea, but Wake was seemingly unfinished. "How much?" he asked. Fantina was hesitating. "Wake, he is many years younger... 20 years!" This was too much for Byron who nearly fainted, while Wake stared dumbfounded.

"Frankly, 21." Fantina confessed.

Wake felt a little nauseous hearing this, but controlled it. "I need your loo. Can I use it?" he asked. Fantina nodded, leaving Byron and Fantina alone to talk. She saw his horrified expression and seemed guilty in saying that.

"I...I..." she stammered.

"I know of your choices, Fantina, but this?" he choked out.

"Byron, you know that I care a deal about this boy and I love him!" Fantina admitted.

"I know that, Fantina. That's what I like about you. It's just that I can't help but remembering about us... you remember back then?" Byron spoke softly, hoping not to cry.

Fantina felt wistful thinking of it. They had met as pen friends at 15 and wrote ever since. On the day they actually met, they fell in love at over 18 and had a strong relationship until Byron expressed his desire to marry her, which shocked her for she wanted to see the world, experience it and this let to conflict. Firstly, Byron was not really someone she considered marriage material yet and even otherwise, marriage at such a tender age was unquestionable. And now, not only did she marry once to a horrible man like Juan, she was marrying yet again; with someone she met just a year before.

The very thought made him feel in anguish and Fantina felt horrible at breaking up with him, but what was she to do? As it is, he proved to be an unworthy father even with his new wife, which pained her even more. She said nothing but the silence implied everything.

That deafening silence, its capable to shout more than just words...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Revelations of Horror

Reviving Elesa was no easy task. Carrying her was problem number one, but reviving her after carrying an almost 49 kilo woman on your back? Not really so easy.

Cilan dropped water on her which made her eyes flutter a little. She then felt a little more alive and when she woke up, she spoke "Where am I? Oh, yeah guys! Am I glad to see you?" Cilan smiled- she was alright. "What happened?" Chilli inquired worried. "You looked dead there!" Elesa smiled. "I'm okay, don't worry." She consoled but on seeing Cress, she almost shrieked in horror with an inclination to slap him that very minute.

"You...idiot! You are going to pay for this someday..." she screamed mortifyingly. Cilan was shocked by this, but Chilli wasted no time in pinning Cress down to the floor. "What did you do to her?" he snarled with his fists high in the air ready to give Cress a black eye. Cress was shaking. "Chilli, honestly! I did nothing!" Cress pleaded. "Not convinced!" Chilli yelled as he then went and nearly punched Cress' eye until he heard the door open. The brothers turned round in surprise.

"Chilli! Stop this at once, ca sufit!"

Chilli was going to scream when he saw it was just Fantina, in another dress?

She was not wearing her usual dress. It wasn't her wedding dress, that's for sure, but it was a little esoteric. It was a long spaghetti yellow sundress which hugged her chest and draped downwards like a curtain with lilies on them. It was a bit of a contrast to her mauve hair, but Chilli thought it looked perfect.

"What?" Fantina asked the bewildered brothers. "Am I not beautiful?" she asked turning round once.

"Nothing like that all!" Cilan insisted, clearly embarrassed. Cress of course, was under Chilli, so there was no way he could even moan, let alone speak!

Fantina then shrugged and yelled "Chilli, get off your brother now!" Chilli meekly obeyed err which impressed both Cilan and Elesa and then she walked up to Cress, still a little stern and spoke "What did you do to him?" Cress was shocked "You're siding him?" he blurted. "I know your brother like the back of my hand, mon amour! He will never assault you especially unless you did something horrible, rather très méchant! Now tell me, what is going on, _maintenant_!" she ordered. Chilli gulped while seeing Cilan calmly back off. Then Cress spoke up "Chilli started it! He was the one who was going to beat me up to a pulp fro no fault of mine!"

"Yeah? Well what did you do to Elesa? Spit it out- NOW!" Chilli yelled. "You're overreacting. I did nothing- so shut up!" Cress argued. This went on for quite a while until Fantina screamed "Ca sufit! You are full fledged adults now, stop behaving like _petit enfants!" _The two were seemingly embarrassed by the behaviour, but Chilli was not happy with having an alien intermediate in their affairs. He sulked and then said "You know, Fantina- I don't like having anybody argue in our fights. It stays with us alone!"

Fantina wasn't pleased but said nothing. Then Chilli insisted "Fantina, look- he was there. Elesa had fainted and we revived her and the minutes she saw him, she was screaming as if Darkrai himself had come to steal her soul or something! I know- look at her!" Fantina saw the shocked Elesa's face and then went up to her. "Ca va, ma chère, n'ayez pas peur!" she consoled. Chilli looked totally bemused. "What was that supposed to mean?" he interjected. "It means 'it's okay, love, Don't be afraid!"Cilan answered from the back door. "And you expect her to understand that?" Chilli blurted. "Love knows no language, mon cherie!" Fantina said smoothly which made Chilli a little shocked. Elesa seemingly calmed down, but still stayed away from Cress. Seeing this, Fantina turned to Cress and asked him bluntly "So Cress- what had you done to this poor woman?" Cress gulped. "You haven't been cheating on me, have you...?" Fantina asked him disconcertingly, Now Cress was more worried.

"Non, non! I never did! I just told her an important piece of news and she fainted. I'd know I brought her here!" he answered. Fantina glanced over the two brothers and then spoke out "Both of you are innocent. She's just worried. Now case closed." Then she walked away to see Cilan. Cress was furious with Chilli with wrongly accusing him of misdemeanour, but all the same, he wondered- why did that news shock Elesa so much? He told her even more disturbing things than that.

"Now mon amour, what did you tell her?" Fantina asked Cress tenderly. "Marriage plans, what we will do!" Cress answered softly. Fantina burst out laughing. "How much money do you plan to spend on me, mon amour?" she teased him playfully. Cress blushed. "Almost my whole fortune." He teased back shyly. Then Fantina stroked his chin and said "Surprise me hard, boy! I love them!" and then kissed him tenderly while Elesa got all mushy seeing such fluffiness. Then Fantina walked away very calmly to her room, being tired and all. She noticed Elesa mouthing the words "Aren't you worried about him?" Fantina just smiled. "I trust him, mon cheri. I trust him too much." And then walked up all the way. Chilli for some reason, stayed transfixed at the scene.

Cilan brought Elesa some lemon tea and ginger biscuits. "Hungry anybody?" he inquired in his professional manner. They nodded and wolfed down everything possible. While eating, they started talking about Pokémon, which then shifted to Cress' impending marriage. "So, how are you guys going to participate in the wedding?" Elesa asked. "Err not much, really." Cilan answered abruptly. "Actually, I may be helping him bake a 5 star cake, but that's probably it." Elesa motioned towards Chilli who looked just as blank until Elesa reminded him. "Oh yeah, Cress' wedding? Nothing." He answered curtly. "Not even the best man?" Elesa asked hopefully.

"Not even a chance." He grumbled. This was pretty shocking for Elesa. "Cress, what are you thinking?" she questioned. Cress just smiled. "You know- they don't really want me to be married... so yeah- they stay out." He whispered in Elesa's ears only to shock her even more. The brothers did not hear. Then she quickly said "What are our plans after this? Retirement and all?" Chilli ate his biscuits even quicker than a speed recorder hearing this. "Well, we aren't going to be doing much, that's for sure!" he spoke coldly.

Cress on the other hand was calm. "Well, Elesa- it's going to be really easy! After marriage, we are going to live normally. Well, normal-ish. We are going to have a role reversal." He beamed.

Cilan gagged on his tea hearing this and almost puked out his tea. Chilli of course puked his biscuits out.

"How's that?" Elesa obliviously asked.

"It's like this- Fantina isn't someone who wants be all housewife like, and I love her for that! So it's more like she'll be our breadwinner and career woman, going through all those contests and shows, whereas I'll be the househusband, tending to chores and stuff. Anyway I can cook well and this was my idea, so don't say anything about manipulation!" Cress explained calmly.

"Anyway, I', not the best cook around these parts, so why worry? Not like anyone will miss me!" he added looking contemptuously at Chilli.

This was too much for Elesa- he really was taking this a bit too far. She promptly fainted and Cilan had to go back to reviving her again, feeling faint himself. Cress was being too secretive about his marriage plans and this was killing the two.

Chilli on the other hand, wanted to stay away feeling so depressed. He walked up to his room when he saw Fantina, still in that sundress open out her hair, with the long, thick beautiful flowing hair fall all the way to her hips. She was taking out her jewellery as well and then saw Chilli and put on a beaming smile. "Bonne nuit Chilli! Sleep well!" she wished him. Chilli blushed. "You look really pretty with long hair! Why don't you keep it this way?" he asked. "I love my hairstyle! Why, is it not excellente?" she asked sweetly. Chilli blushed. "It's amazing! It suits you really well! I just think long hair is pretty, that's all!" he answered shyly. Fantina started giggling which amde him feel even weirder.

"Sorry about that accusation, I was angry." He apologised. "De rien, mon ami! I'm okay!" she replied then walked up and kissed Chilli's forehead platonically. "Bonne nuit, mon ami! Sleep well, you look really tired. I'll help you out tomorrow if you'd like!" she said and then went to bed. Chilli was about to murmur thanks when he saw her almost asleep anyway.

He can't hate Fantina. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't. She was so kind, compassionate, sophisticated, clever, elegant, graceful beautiful! A new feeling welled up in his heart as he touched the area Fantina kissed him on. It made his heart burn with a flaming passion and feeling. Chilli discovered that he was not exactly on friendly terms with her, now that he was this close for comfort...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Visit Round the World

At long last, a good gym leader meeting! The brothers had been yearning for one to get over their problems with Cress after all, their disdain for his wedding was being far too open these days and they can no longer veil it at all. Even if he wasn't married yet, it seemed like he already was- love sick, obsessing over Fantina so much so even she felt she needed space; which was rare. The only thing ever talked about was their wedding, which annoyed them too much. Soon even other leaders stayed away from Cress, but Elesa and Skyla stuck with it, being far too excited and giving him advice on females.

"Say Cress, I am so excited for the wedding! We are invited, aren't we?" Skyla asked excitedly. Cress burst into laughter. "Of course you are! You guys are my best friends, am I not right?" he answered joyfully. The girls then started talking again, much to Cilan and Chilli's displeasure.

Meanwhile, Fantina was busy in the villa, staying with her friends for a while. It had been long since she was with them and they were dying to know of Cress.

"Fantina how is your husband? Is he a nice guy?" Maylene asked.

"Is he rich?" Byron asked.

"Is he handsome?" Candice gushed.

"Is he smart?" Roark asked.

"Is he famous?" Gardenia asked.

Fantina just smiled. "Mes amis, my husband is everything you say he is! He is very, very handsome, fairly famous with his friends and extremely rich. He owns a restaurant!" she replied. Then she turned to Roark. "Oh he is smarter than all of us- he even defeated me in a match!" Roark gulped- how strong was this guy? Fantina then asked "You did say you wanted to see a museum, non?" Roark enthusiastically nodded. Byron wasn't pleased. "Come on, Roark, now?" he moaned. Fantina then said "Byron, don't worry; I'll take him! My husband knows these streets like the back of his hand!" Candice grew hopeful. "That means you'll introduce us to him?!" she asked hopefully. Fantina smiled. "Sorry, no. Not until my wedding day." She said to a now disappointed Candice.

"Let me call him for directions, fine by you?" Fantina asked Roark, who was nodding frivolously and impatiently.

The phone rang midst talking and then Cress picked it up and smiled "Bonjour, mon amour! What makes you call at such an hour?" he answered jovially. Fantina was a little flushed. "Are you busy? Je suis desolee! I never knew!" she exclaimed. "Not really, I'm afraid!" he laughed. "It's lunch time." Fantina smiled. "Cress, mon ami- I have a favour to ask of you." She said softly. "Oui?" Cress replied. "My friend is dying to see the Nacrene museum; he is an aspiring palaeontologist and a very skilled miner. Could you tell me where is it?" she inquired. Cress smiled. "It's very easy. You are along Driftveil City, right?" he replied. Fantina grunted in approval. "So just pass through Driftveil, go downwards towards Nimbasa and take a car from there to Nacrene, they'll gladly do so! If you don't want that, my friend knows of a great Rapidash carriage you can use." He answered. "It's right near the Cold Storage." Fantina was glad. "Merci be coup mon amour!" she replied. Then Cress spoke dreamily "Oh darling! Why are you so far away?" Fantina was surprised. "Because if I stay too long with you, you'll be bored! We have our married lives to look forward to, non?" she answered. "Still! I really want to see you soon!" he replied still dreamy. She laughed. "Oui, oui. But that will be much later! Au revoir!" and then she cut just after Cress wished her too. Then she called Roark and they went inside the carriage while the others waved.

While inside, Roark seemed a little fidgety about something. Fantina turned to him and asked "What's the matter, mon ami?" Roark looked at her for a few seconds but then backed away. Fantina cajoled him a little and then he said "Oh, alright. There is something." He mumbled. "Speak." Roark looked at her and then asked her "You know, I was just wondering... How come you want to get married so soon? I mean, usually people take over 4, 5 years to accept, but you are getting married in just a year!" Fantina smiled and answered "That's because I know my husband very well! And I love him!" Roark was still fidgety. "But the other guy- you said that you love him and then... that happened! I'm sorry for bringing it up, but" Fantina cut him off saying "Roark; I thought I felt the same way too. Juan and I were very close. I loved his manners and charm, but that was all I could see. I knew him for 8 years and then we married, but it was too late- all I could ever see in him was that, no warmth, no compassion, no feeling. I wish I realised this later, but I did not. This new boy, he may be very young; but I see more in him than just a pretty face. I see love, I see compassion, I see so much more in him than anyone see. The facts are facts, I love him and he loves me. Nothing can ever change that."

Then she explained to a very interested Roark "As youngsters, we tend to see appearance alone. This was done primarily so that the children who are born from this are healthy and beautiful, what every person wants; since caveman's time. As we get older and wiser, we realised appearances are not everything. The longer you live with someone, the less you care about looks. You start caring about heart, soul and how kind he person is. That matters the most no matter what. Just remember that." Roark seemed really convinced by the idea and his curiosity for Fantina's new husband just grew. Then Fantina saw him fluster a bit. "Something wrong? Vous allez bien?" Roark would have tried dismissing it off, but then said "It's not much, but yeah- it means a lot." Fantina looked confused. Roark blushed even harder and then turning to her in pure embarrassment confessed "Fantina thanks so much for the advice. It's going to be real helpful, especially now. That's because - I know that you're the last person to know, but I'm engaged!" He then showed off his ring to her and it was of pure, solid gold with a little obsidian engraving on it saying in broken Latin "Serenitas est Libertas" meaning 'serenity is liberty'.

She was gobsmacked and then hugged Roark. "Oh merveille! Congratulations! Felicitations, mon ami!" she gushed as she hugged the now scarlet Roark who was seemingly dying in her squeeze. Then, when she let go of him she asked "Who is the lucky lady?" Roark blushed even harder. "It is Gardenia." He shyly replied, only to be hugged even harder by Fantina which almost crushed his lungs. "Felicitations, mon ami! She is a lovely girl, I'm sure you will do really well as a couple!" she congratulated and then stayed this way until they reached.

"My husband told me this is very hard to miss." She said when helping Roark out of the carriage. After wandering around bit, they found it. "Ah, Nacrene Archaeology Museum! This is it, Roark! Let's go in-" she was cut off when Roark literally dragged her inside and he almost fainted with joy when he saw everything inside- it was a fossil addict's heaven! There was so much to see over there!

Everything was well preserved and stored and there was so much- an Aerodactyl skeleton, cool stones, gems of rarities, pink diamonds, tablets of old civilisations and the best part- collections of many different kinds of fossils round the world! There were them all- root, claw, helix, everything! Roark almost drooled on everything- so much did he love fossils! Then, a shy man walked up to Fantina and then gawked in surprise.

"You're Fantina, right? I absolutely love your shows, they are so amazing! Can I have an autograph please?" he asked. Fantina gladly signed it and then he introduced himself. "I am Hawes, co-owner and founder of the museum. Would you like me to show you round?" Fantina smiled. "Actually, my friend Roark is here to see the place. It's beautiful, but I have brought him here to see it, he's been dying for so long!" she replied.

"He looks very smart. Is he a miner?" Hawes asked.

Fantina brought him near and said "Actually, he is an aspiring palaeontologist! He can read old scripts fairly well and can recognise and mine out fossils very well. He'd love to know more about this place!" Hawes' eyes shined. "I will show him to my wife right away!" then he called Roark and beckoned him to go after him for an important cause. Fantina agreed to just wait there. After a few minutes, she saw Roark racing to her and almost fainting in her arms. "Roark, mon ami? What is the matter?" she inquired. Roark was sweating and almost crying when he saw Fantina. He hugged her hard much to the other visitors' surprise. "Thank you, Fantina! Thank you! You have no idea what I've been asked to do!" he screamed in joy. Fantina signalled her interest.

"Lenora, the main archaeologist has asked me o do a whole course of palaeontology and archaeology under her! Isn't that amazing!?" Roark blurted. Fantina grinned. "You deserve it, mon ami. But for how long?" "Three months!" he replied. Fantina was surprised. "Can you do it in only that much of time? I did hear she is expecting a baby..." she asked. Roark nodded enthusiastically. Then Fantina nodded. "Okay. Go and do it with your all! But make sure to tell Gardenia!" Roark then ran off but before going, he shouted across "That will start in May, not now!" Fantina just smiled and left along with telling him "Call me if you need it!"

When Fantina left, she was suddenly approached by a little girl who asked her "Are you Miss Fantina, the famous contest lady?" Fantina nodded and the girl suddenly struck up a cute conversation. Then with a sudden urge, the girl insisted that she see her family and then told her that she wanted to know more about ghost pokemon too. Of course, being this way- Fantina accepted and went with her.

Meanwhile, Cress was busy with hearing about the meeting with Alder and his retirement due to age. Of course, he did not look very old, but he was talking about 'giving the young 'uns a chance' which Cress did follow a little.

After that was over, Elesa and Skyla walked home with Cress while the others diverged. "So, Cress! Alder is retiring! What a pity! I mean, he is so energetic and full of life!" Elesa moaned. "Yet another guy is retiring. That is so unfair!" Skyla moaned. Cress sighed. This was going too far. Then Elesa turned to him. "Fantina will be busy, you say?" she inquired. Cress nodded. Skyla then asked him "Cress, you were talking so much about your wedding, but the only thing you never told us is- when is it?" Cress face palmed. They were going to give it to him, real bad.

"You look a little nervous. Is something wrong?" Elesa asked him. Cress said nothing. "Let's just go home. Rather, why not eat at a cafe?" he suggested. "Cress, we just ate lunch!" Skyla answered. "Well, I'm still hungry!" he moaned. "Oh alright- let's just find a private place to talk, okay?" he snapped. Then he looked at the two girls and said "Fine, I'll tell you. Please do not hate me for this." The girls looked at each other and then nodded.

"Okay, here goes. I'm getting married on October 15th!"

The girls then slapped him. "What's for?" he yelled.

"You moron!" they screamed. "That's the day Alder is going to inaugurate all the new leaders and you have to be there!..."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Tensions Arise

"What really?" Cress asked dumbfounded. "Alder is leaving on that day?"

"Um, yeah and if you aren't going to be there... it's the pits for you!" Skyla reminded.

Cress face palmed; this was not going to be good. He had made elaborately huge plans for this day and they were all going to go up in smoke. Alder was the one who gave him this gym leader job and because of him, he met Fantina, so invariably he helped link their lives together. Yet he had specifically planned it for that day, with 3 weeks completing and getting to see the whole place with her friends.

Friends... he was worrying now, What if she tried cheating on him or anyone hurt her? It worried him no end.

"Honestly, do I have to?" he moaned. "I have told Fantina that I will be marrying her then, what is it with Alder and such spontaneous plans?" Elesa looked at Skyla and then they told him "You know, Cress- I know you love Fantina and all, but isn't this a bit too much? I mean, you are ditching Alder for her- I don't think that is very fair." "I mean, Alder is a lovely person!" Skyla insisted. Cress just rolled his eyes. As much as he tried to pretend though, it wasn't working- he was in a hard soup and he was mentally cursing Alder for screwing up his wedding plans. Besides, he had intended it to be a low-key affair minus all the elites, which Fantina would have been okay with. Her best friends were all gym leaders and Elesa and Skyla were invited, so what pressure was going to be there?

"But wait, if you are getting married that day, I know Alder would make a concession. I mean, he has been recently deposed by the new champion, but all the same, he would do something like that for close to anybody, right?" Skyla questioned. Elesa nodded in agreement. Cress was looking a bit nervous. By now, the girls saw his expression and were horrified. "You didn't invite anybody?" they exclaimed. Cress looked even worse for wear. Then he mumbled "Not much..."

By now, Elesa was close to pinning him down. "Tell me, what have you done? Be honest!"

"Okay, okay!" Cress confessed. "Let alone invite, I didn't call anybody else except Skyla, you and my brothers. The rest are Fantina's friends!"

Elesa and Skyla were shell shocked hearing this. They nearly turned as white as a sheet nearing this. "Honestly Cress... why?" was all they could mumble and muster. Cress himself was feeling guilty, but he wanted it to be an intimate family celebration. Skyla was almost crying and wanted to slap him. "Why?" she yelled. Cress was in no mood to answer and walked away as quickly as he could.

Yet the girls persisted after him and kept following. Cress attempted losing them, but was steadily failing. Soon they were inching onto him so badly that Cress was sickened and then screamed "Go Simipour. Use Water GUN!" Simipour then attacked the girls who were deflected far and now heavily soaked. Cress then ran for his life. He just kept running away as far as he could and almost breaking down in tears- this was never his intention, but what choice was there?

Sadly enough, when Cress did get a chance to rest, as he sat on the park bench, he felt tow shadows lurking over him. Initially dismissing it as sunlight shadows, he scoffed it off until he looked up in horror- the girl's were back and worse than ever!

They took no qualms in slapping him hard and glaring angrily at every mocking passerby who was intimidated- they really had fire in their eyes. Cress was almost in tears, but he had no escape. He braced himself- this was going to be bad.

Initially he was expecting a usual lecture, but they delivered him something else instead.

"Why do you keep everything about your wedding so secret? Your relationship was pretty open, I know!" Elesa pleaded contritely. Cress was irritated. "Because I want to, okay!" he snapped angrily. The girls were yet not convinced. "Tell us more!" they ordered, but Cress didn't bat an eyelid. He actually looked quite nervous and even embarrassed. But it was not that of love or something mushy he planned up. It was real embarrassment as if he welcomed a reject in his home.

"It's nothing, so shut up." He said. And then he raced back to his house. The girls were still depressed, but they did nothing except one thing as he ran away. He could actually hear them scream out "Why not just admit that the reason you are keeping everything a secret is because you are ashamed of your relationship!" This shocked Cress no end and he felt like his heart stopped, but it seemed to hit onto him hard. What If this was true? It could be, couldn't it? All the same, he had to wait for the answer. Was this what was hidden in his heart all along?

No it could not be true! Else would he ever be so worried about Fantina?

Cell phone rang yet again and by now Fantina was exhausted. Dropping Roark off wasn't a problem, spending dinner with the fan was just divine, but now she just wanted alone time with her friends and this was by far the fifth time Cress called up.

"Allô?" Fantina spoke tiredly.

"Fantina dear? When are you coming home?" Cress asked frantically.

"Sweetheart, I told you- I'll be with my friends for only a week! Why worry, dear?" she replied exasperated.

"A week?! That's too long!" he wailed. "What will I do without you?"

Fantina would have laughed, but this was going too far. "Cress! Why worry? I'll be perfectly alright and this is the fifth time you have called, mon amour!" she spoke sternly which did break Cress' heart a bit.

"I don't know, Fantina. Why are you spending so much time with them? I mean, you were never like this before!" he yelled. Fantina was taken aback by such an outburst. "Cress! What are you saying? I will be staying with them as they are my best friends, I would have never called them for such a special occasion otherwise!" she replied angrily. Cress was having it- she did have many male friends and this was plaguing him no end, nevertheless he stopped talking. "How about this- you miss me so much, I see you at 5 near your house, okay? Then it is my friends' house!" she proposed. Cress readily accepted and sent her a flying kiss and then walked off home to a bewildered Chilli and Cilan.

"You look like you just punched a rock and it fell on your face!" Chilli remarked. "What happened to you?" Cilan asked worriedly. "I walked into a door." Cress replied casually. "You look super worried man. That ain't walking in a door!" Chilli insisted. "Okay fine! I had trouble with Elesa! Now leave me alone!" he screamed and ran off to his room. They did nothing but just worked away, for Cress was becoming prone to such mood swings.

He ran up to his bedroom and then braced himself together. He then picked out his best outfit and walked off to his brothers' garden where he made a beautiful bouquet and then dressed himself up and waited patiently for the five o clock mark.

While waiting, he started to wonder whether what they said as true. He was keeping his marriage a secret from everybody, even his brothers and Elesa was keeping far too many secrets for him. Of course, Arceus forbid she should never spill them out at all, but now his marriage was tallying with Alder's retirement- rather deposing and he was completely out of a choice. Even otherwise, he did have this feeling that the flames were cooling in their relationship.

Cress always liked he, rather loved her very much, but he wondered- why would she just disappear off to her friends' house like that? She even told him that she would be boring him if she stayed too long with him. Could that mean that she was cheating on him? After all, she never introduced him to any of her friends even though it had been two weeks since they arrived, or even made a mention of them. Of course, Fantina was very faithful and compassionate; she would never even dream of breaking Cress' heart like that, especially when she looked so ecstatic with him and loved every minute she spent with him, from long make out sessions to just staring into each other's eyes as they studied the very soul. Cress then decided then and there that he was just being silly and he would definitely win Fantina's love again, no doubts. All he had to do was wait for that blissful hour.

Two hours passed and yet there was no sign of her. Both his brothers denied anybody visiting and even Cress didn't hear anything at all himself. He tried calling her many times, but it failed. By then the flowers were dying, Cilan caught him and wasn't very pleased. Either way, Cress was doomed, but what really worried him was that she never ever came even as the night illuminated.

This was unbelievable. Fantina just stood him up?

Cress swore he felt his heart burn. Why would his love ever miss a date? She herself felt very often and told him that he was the best boyfriend she ever had in her life? Did she find someone else? Did he love the new prospect more? Di she actually just say this to appease him? Either way, he was not going to give up. He was going to find the answer in as many ways as possible, and that was guaranteed...


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- Unexpected Surprise

Ding dong! The bell rang and a disgruntled Roark dragged himself to open the door. He was pretty tired after travelling the whole day in that epic rock and fossil museum and couldn't wait for his palaeontology class at all, but it was months away. He very thought of waiting for so long was draining all his energy out and to started to annoy him, oh but when he got to the door. Damn did he get a pleasant surprise!

"Hey Roark!" a cheerful lady greeted him at the door.

Roark's eyes widened. "Elesa?" he mumbled. Then she threw herself into his arms and he hugged her back. "Man it's great to see you again!" he gushed and brought her inside. He offered her some lemonade and cookies and then shut the door. "How are you doing?" she screamed out pretty excitedly while Roark blushed and smiled faintly. "I am doing great, man! I missed you so much, where were you all these days?" he gushed back on seeing one of his closest friends all over again. "I had no idea you'd be here, frankly. I thought you were going to live there permanently!" Elesa remarked. Roark smiled- ah those memories.

While Byron had forsaken Roark, his mother would often take him to Ireland, her homeland for vacations. Over there, he was encouraged into pen friendship by a relative and he went ahead and did so. He started writing to Elesa first and found out that she was a lovely person, kept writing to her for three years until they met as 13 year olds. Ever since, they became inseparably close and best friends.

"Honestly, Roark! How did you get here?" she asked dumbfounded. "Fantina is having her wedding, love. So I was invited for that. We have the whole manor to ourselves. Aren't we lucky?" Roark replied really happily. He saw Elesa after close to 10 years and this was a remarkable change for him. "But how would Fantina know you?" Elesa asked while munching on cookies. "I mean her friends are usually rich and-" Elesa's eyes widened and then shocked, exclaimed "You are a gym leader?!" Roark nodded. Elesa nearly gagged and then squeezed him hard and tight, almost crying. "Arceus damn you, why did you never tell me? I can't believe this happened to you, congratulations!" she gushed as she hugged him hard and tight. Roark just hugged back, now completely out of breath.

"I seriously had no idea you would ever be here!" Elesa remarked yet again munching on more cookies. "All the same, you are like a star miner right?" she asked. "Yeah you could say that. I'm the foreman of my city's mines. And the gym leader too, which is a bonus. All the same, people often refer to me as an 'aspiring palaeontologist'. I really wonder why- I mean, I mine fossils and I don't study them. Okay, I recognise them, but that's probably it." He answered. Then he looked at her and asked "It's been years. What makes of you now?" Elesa looked at him and said-

"Clearly this proves that you've been living under a rock for ages. I am a supermodel and featuring on the latest magazines." She answered. Roark puked out his drink. "What?" he asked shocked. "Seriously?" the he hugged Elesa "Congrats on fulfilling your dream. I'm proud of you!" She smiled. Then after they settled down, she then said "Roark, there is something I have to tell you."

"Speak."

"You know why I came here?" she asked. He shook his head. "I want to know where Volkner is. Do you?" she asked. Roark's eyes widened. "You know Volkner? How?!" he exclaimed. Elesa then grew tearful "I have to, Roark. He is my brother!" she confessed Roark stared shocked. "Then how is it I never met him then?" he asked her. Elesa then wept. "That's because we are estranged!"

To prove it, she took her headphones off and Roark nearly passed out. She was almost Volkner's carbon copy!

"Roark, I am a month younger than him. When we were younger, our parents stayed with us mainly for us, but finally it became too extreme so they divorced and mom wanted no contact with dad, so she took Volkner and I stayed with dad. We stayed this way for 18 years and when I last met him, it was very long ago. I told him I wanted to be a supermodel and he argued with me profusely and then said he wanted no more contact with me ever, so in short- our 3 years visits would be tarnished! I know Fantina would know him and call him here, so I really want to see my brother at least one last time!"

Roark was stunned hearing this. Volkner never talked much, but not even once did he mention a sibling to him at all! He almost fainted hearing this, but he wondered himself. "Look, nobody is here except me. The others are all out, so come later." He said. Elesa was still wistful and he knew exactly what to do with crying women, so he went ahead and said "Elesa, I know nothing about siblings for I never had any, but if you really want, I can call him. Even I don't know where he is, but I'll do that, okay?" Elesa felt better and then he dialled the number.

In 5 minutes, the receiver picked up. "Hello, this is Volkner Stresemann. He is unavailable at the moment so please give a message." It beeped. "He's German?" he whispered. "Mom remarried." She answered. Then Roark said very clearly "Clearly you have no idea about the abilities of rhetoric, Volkner! It's Roark here!"

Volkner almost jumped out of his skin. "Oh, hi. How are you?" he asked. "Just dandy I'm surprised though, by you in general."Roark hissed. Volkner was surprised. "Seriously, what's your deal?" he spat. "Hmm, let me guess- first you don't come to Fantina's wedding and next you never even mention you have a sister!" Roark snapped. Volkner's jaw dropped. "Fantina's getting married?!" he exclaimed. Roark wanted to nod, but grunted in approval. "What the hell? How come nobody ever told me? I never know anything!" he grumbled. "Frankly, I never thought you'd be even remotely interested!" Roark admitted. Volkner was even more shocked now.

"What do you mean? Of course I'd want to know- even if I could not attend!" he yelled as the voice resonated in his empty gym. Roark just rolled his eyes- he knew Volkner fairly well and hated his misanthropic ways. "Besides, where are you guys anyway?" he asked still shocked. "Unova- her husband's place." Roark replied. "What the-? Oh my Arceus, how come nobody ever told me?! I was already stunned at the fact that she could have married that other sucker, but a remarriage? I would want to know I mean..." Volkner yelled.

"Aren't you being a little too self-righteous?" Roark taunted contemptuously. "I still wanted to know- how could she not call me? This is the same thing she did last time!" Volkner exclaimed. Roark's heart nearly stopped- she actually did this? It was uncharacteristic of Fantina to be this way; she had never neglected Volkner even though half the world had a want to just slap him. Fantina was acting a little out of character- were all the Unova people like this? Roark then told a strangely sad Volkner "She didn't call you?" Volkner just nodded and Roark could just feel it. After a few seconds of silence, he then snapped "But why would you want to be there anyway?"

"Because I wanted to see Candice there!" he blurted. Roark was stunned- he didn't even acknowledge that he knew Elesa even once- how much did he hate her?

He excused himself and asked Elesa "You know- he may just pretend he knows nothing of you." He warned. "I don't care! I want to see him again!" she screamed. Now Roark had no choice. Speaking again, he said "You know, Volkner- I have something to tell you... a woman, rather my best friend wants to talk to you. She said that she wanted to see you." Volkner became furious "I don't want any dates!" he fumed. "Perhaps you may reconsider if I tell her the name- Miss Elesa Capriati. Sounds familiar?" Roark interrogated.

"Wait... you know her?" Volkner glared. Roark agreed. Volkner almost died. "Please Roark, please give me to her. I really want to see her again! I do!" Roark then gave leas the phone. "He's all yours."

Elesa practically wailed talking to her brother initially. A few emotional words spread here, there and everywhere. Roark was overjoyed to see his friend so happy; she was actually crying tears of joy. He'd never seen her this happy, even when he last gave her a pale sphere as a birthday gift- which she cherished for life. Seeing her so ecstatic filled his soul- it was actually quite heart-warming. She talked for hours on end while Roark wondered what was taking the others so long. Fantina was showing them round the whole place, rather must have been the whole country. Roark was tried, so he refrained, anyway it was a bonus- he saw Elesa again.

Roark smiled seeing her- she was just so special to him, just like how Flint was to Volkner- they were inseparable best friends and nothing could ever change that, not even Arceus himself. Then he saw Elesa put down the receiver pretty reluctantly and then she saw Roark with tears stinging her eyes. "Looks like you had an emotional reunion." He remarked. Elesa then jumped into his arms and cried for hours. She just didn't stop crying and kept telling him over a million times- thank you, thank you. Roark was flustered, but smiled- he was glad he could be of help.

Then she asked him "Is your Cranidos still here?" Roark nodded. "Wanna see him?" Elesa shook her head violently and he let him out to play with her. While Elesa and Cranidos were having a blast on seeing each other again and playing with Emolga, Roark was wistful and pulled out a large document. He looked at it nervously, shaking and quivering, yet determined to finish it off. Then again, who would not be? It was very important.

It was his prenuptial agreement. Roark was often told this was useful, even though he hadn't a clue what it was. As long as it was fair and legal, he was full for in it, but had no idea what to do until Elesa came back dog-tired and then saw this.

"What's that?" she asked peering in the paper.

"Nothing!" he hid while Elesa smiled slyly.

"Show me, now!" she said naughtily, making Roark blush as he showed her the paper. "When's your wedding?" she asked after analysing it for a few minutes. Roark looked at her shocked "I just got engaged, how can I marry now?" he spurted. Elesa was stunned. "You are engaged? Name the lucky lady!" she spurted. Keeping this a secret was too hard now. "Gardenia, the eternal gym leader." Elesa hugged him yet again, including kissing his forehead and cheeks. "Congrats, bud! I'm so excited! Will you call me for the wedding?" she asked with her cutest puppy dog, rather Clefairy eyes. Roark burst into laughter and brought her into his arms. "'Course, Elesa! Why wouldn't I?" e joked and then she analysed the paper along with him.

"You don't really believe that much in marriage, do you?" she asked him sceptically. "Of course I do! If it's Gardenia, then I do!" Roark insisted. Elesa turned pale. "Then why on earth are you signing a prenuptial agreement?" she asked shocked. Roark was very practical, but a real sucker for women and not only that; he had no idea about laws in general. "Isn't it so that if we plan to get divorced we can just annul the marriage to stop heartbreak?" he asked dumbly.

Elesa face palmed and wanted to slap him so hard. After groaning in frustration, she yelled "Roark, you have no idea what this is, right? A prenuptial agreement is that document which states that just in case you divorce, this is all the stuff you and your ex will own! Please tell me you didn't know that!" Roark turned as white as a sheet. "Frankly, I never knew that!" Elesa then slumped on the sofa and nearly sank down in horror at her friend's legal naïveté. Then she saw Roark who did look a little worried until he said "That is no problem I already know what we can own after that. Question is what?" Elesa then noticed everything and chartered it.

"It'll be like this- the stuff you will include is property, possessions and the stuff you will do during your wedding; like a contract." She explained. Roark hit it. "I know exactly what to do now!" he said and then chartered out what would be his and what Gardenia's.

"So that means, my house will be mine, my stuff will be mine and if we buy a second house, it will be hers." He decided.

"I doubt that's fair." She remarked.

"Okay her stuff hers, my stuff mine. She and I will be equals in everything- if I am a dad, I will be just as responsible for my kids as she is- either she or I will quit. We will share household chores and even income. Is that fair? Plus the second house will still be hers." Roark asked. Elesa smiled. "There! You got the hang of it! Now just get her to sign this and then get it registered!"

Roark looked a little hesitant. "Will she accept?" he asked. "Does she know what this is?"Elesa asked. "Now that you mention it, she has no idea that I am signing one, and anyway it is fair." Roark answered. Elesa was going to slap him for this, but then said "Okay- decide it between her and you. This is your life, so I'm off. I have gym leader work to do, come over for a battle soon, okay? Bye!" Roark then saw her off and smiled- he was lucky to have a friend like her.

Soon, the others came back from the tour all bushed and worn out. "Hey guys!" he said cheerfully! "Who's up for cookies and lemonade?" Everyone ran like a Bouffalant stampede and hungrily hogged everything. Roark hen beckoned Gardenia over and spoke to her about it. "So basically, why don't we just do this? It'll be pretty handy." He suggested. "Okay!" Gardenia gladly did that and then hugged him bear hug. "I'm so happy to have met you, honey!" she cooed. Roark blushed and smiled- he was glad this would be worth it. Or is it?...


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- Conceding Conflicts

Fantina just stood him up- unbelievable. That was completely out of her character, or at least Cress felt that way. Why on earth was she doing this? Initially he thought of shrugging it off as a mood swing and was successful until his brothers began discussing Alder's deposal.

"Say, Cilan is it really true that your girlfriend can pack a punch with pokemon?" Chilli asked while overwatering the house plants- again. Cilan sighed "Yes she is. Now will you please stop annoying me about this?" Chilli of course beamed even more. "Are you seriously not excited? I do not even know anything of her and yet I'm super happy that she is now Champion of Unova and you're not? What kind of boyfriend are you?" he scoffed. Cress nodded in agreement, being a man of few words. Cilan just face palmed in depression. "I know that she has and don't call me sexist or anything stupid like that- I just don't want to talk about this." He spouted.

"Oh really?" Chilli pouted. "If I see this right, you are being jealous!" Cilan immediately turned defensive. "That is absolutely untrue! I'm not!" he argued. Cress was wincing- this situation was becoming too uncomfortable.

"For Arceus' sake, you are clearly distressed by her success. I mean seriously- you haven't even mentioned her name even once!" Chilli stated. Cilan flushed red. "I just don't want to, is that a sin?" he argued. "You're just being pertinacious, you know that?" Chilli retorted. "Do you even know what that means?" Cilan argued. Cress' feeble attempts to intervene were drowned in their increasingly loud voices. "Well, at least I speak honestly from my heart, unlike you moron!" Chilli snapped while Cilan looked more furious than ever. "Well, look who's talking, Mr Forever Single!" he scoffed.

"It isn't my fault you feel so antagonistic. Damn, I'm talking like you now!"

"And I'm behaving like you now! Is something wrong with your brain?"

"Yeah, you're behaving like a total Bidoof, y'know!"

"In other words, I'm behaving like you, you retarded slob!"

"What did you say?" Chilli then flung a flower pot on him whom he dodged a bit, but it scraped his arm.

"I called you a lazy, incompetent slob who knows nothing about formalities or fine living!"

"At least I'm nice! And handsome, unlike you!"

"Arceus damn you- you are incorrigible! Just like my girlfriend!"

"No wonder... I get it now!" Chilli deduced as he jumped off the sofa and came near him. "You are basically being like this because you are ashamed. You are embarrassed to admit that Iris is your girlfriend, so you don't even dream of her, let alone mention her in our presence. You don't like Iris- she is nothing more than an embarrassment you are secretly ashamed of, but don't want to admit that at all, am I right? And now that she is stronger, it only aggravates what you say, right? Admit it Arceus damn it you freaking hate Iris!"

Ah, how ominous those statements were! This hit Cress really hard as if an arrow was in his heart. He turned as white as a sheet and then Chilli noticed him. He was almost shaking and Chilli face palmed. "Oh shit, oh shoot! Cress- please, don't be so worried! We have arguments like this all the time, am I right?" Chilli grabbed Cress' shoulders and spoke to him to calm him down. "Look, we are pretty furious about this, but we'll get over it, right?" Chilli himself was panicking- Cress once had to be hospitalised due to his emotions. But Cress seemed to show nothing; rather he seemed to resonate with Chilli's every word. Was he actually ashamed that Fantina was his girlfriend?

"Say, Cress- Alder's leaving now because of her, so I was wondering... should we write a resignation speech or something?" Cilan suggested. Cress now grew paler- this was getting harder for him every minute!

"I...I don't know, it's your life... just do it, just do what you feel- keep me away, I beg of you!" he stammered making them worried- what happened to him? Then Cress spoke out fervently- "Please- keep me away! I don't care what they say- let me marry my woman with a clear heart!" Now they were really concerned- was he going nuts?

"Hey, Cress- something's bothering you and we want to know it now! Are you nervous about marrying Fantina or something?" Cilan asked tenderly. "Who said?" Cress lashed out. "You know, you have been pretty defensive lately and we want to know why- something's bothering you and we know it. Let me guess... she stood you up, right? Damn, we actually forgot you were even here!" Chilli screamed while Cress sighed- he was so weird!

"If you want, we'll do the speech!" Cilan said reluctant making Chilli discomforted. Cress shook his head "No...No please! Keep me away from this!" he pleaded. Then Cilan came to him and spoke out firmly "What is going on, Cress? Why are you so shocked?"

"Okay, I'll tell you!" Cress blurted. "Alder's leaving on October 15th, right?" The brothers looked at each other and then sighed "Don't tell me, Cress... You're marrying her on that day?!" Cress nodded nervously which almost made Cilan faint from shock. "You idiot!" Chilli yelled flinging a flowerpot on him "You knew so blooming well that that was the day- he personally announced it to us!" Cress was cowering now. "I know, but what is more important? Saying goodbye to a guy I never knew or marrying my love of my life?" he stammered. Cilan the reasoned "Isn't it because of Alder that you met her?" Cress then blurted "No! It's because of the restaurant, it's because of you guys!"

Chilli then said "You know, Cress- you've been acting pretty insecure lately. Every time anybody talks to her. Even women, even me- you've always acted so defensive. Are you sure you can marry her? Have you been cheating or has she?" Cress turned as white as a sheet. "Why bring that up?" he retorted. "Because it's true! You promised Alder that you wanted to be there and now you break it! How much of a secret for you want to keep your wedding? You even tried keeping it from us! Now tell us, have you been cheating or has she? Spill it now!" Chilli yelled.

"It's got nothing to do with that! I'm just protective of her, so? Very husband has to be that way- it's his duty towards his wife! I may not fight, but at least I should protect her in some form, right? Elesa what kind of husband am I?" he yelled.

"You are confusing between protectiveness and insecurity." Cilan pointed out. Finally, Cress lost it. He ran up and away, for now his secrets were spilling and what was worse?"...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14- Apathetic Voice

Boom! Fantina burst into the door wiping her forehead. Ashe had been touring her friends all day and kept Roark's palaeontology fact a secret and when she did, she was surprised to see everyone just stare at her in almost awe and shock as if she just murdered someone. "Bonjour, mon ami! Comment allez vous?" They just stared at her in larger awe- couldn't she just see what she just did?

"What, did I surprise you?" she asked. They were now in almost shock and anguish, wondering... what did she do and why? Fantina was surprised herself. "What happened?" she inquired.

Gardenia was the first to break the silence. "You disinvited Volkner?!" she exclaimed. Fantina was taken aback, but she nodded. "Why, did you not expect it?" she asked them shrugging coldly. They were even more stunned. "Look, I know that he never goes out much, but honestly, disinviting him?!" Byron asked with concern. Fantina shrugged yet again "So? I never invited him for the previous wedding either, so why worry?" Now they were shocked- Fantina was never that kind of a person who would be so flippant about anybody- heck once she even dragged Byron, the sloppiest guy on the planet to a fashion show! And now she was being so indifferent about him? Why?

"But Fantina, I knew you and the elites aren;t close, but why Volkner? Has he done anything to you?" Wake asked concerned. Fantina then glanced at Roark who looked very pained as if something had stabbed him and then she spoke out throatily "Why, mon ami, did you not know? I never like that misanthrope since the very start! He is disgusting, cold and extremely reclusive even for somebody like me. I do not care if he is popular; he isn't someone close to me, so why should you worry?" By now, most others were shocked by Fantina's veiled contempt for the blond.

"It really should not surprise you at all, mon ami. Why the long face?" she asked Byron plaintively. He looked just as shocked. Everybody was hopelessly tempted to slap Volkner, but Fantina's actions were a little harsh, especially since Volkner had never acted snappy with her. Then she looked at them and asked "What? You never liked him anyway!" but their shock sill was preset on their faces. Nobody ever hated Volkner so much in their life before, even Roark. Sensing discomfort, Fantina went away to her room to sleep, for they were all so miserably tired.

Yet the next day, nobody seemed to be with Fantina, except Roark and Candice who was basically much attached to him. They all seemed to pass on icy glares as if Fantina were a monster, not a person. How ironic to a person who could give up so much of love and money to people she barely even met on a daily basis!

Then she saw Roark fidgeting in discomfort and then asked him "What happened, Cherie?" Roark just fidgeted even more. He seemed a little defensive, as if he was very uncomfortable about something very private. He squirmed away and shrunk in pure fear on hearing Volkner's name while Fantina herelf looked like on the verge of tears. Then very abruptly he said "Candice and I need to talk alone. Now!" Candice was taken aback by this, but Fantina just relented and let him go, Roark dragging Candice away while Gardenia was busy chatting up Byron in being nicer to his son.

Roark dragged Candice to a dark room and turned on a few dim lights while Candice shrunk in fear- what was Roark doing? Then he shut the door and bent to her saying "I'm not in love with you, okay? If I was, I would have been in intense self control, okay!" Candice just withdrew until Roark's fearful glances grew tender and then he said  
"Candy, why not sit? I have a long story to tell you for you are my best friend. Promise me you will not tell anybody? Chill, I won't hurt you. I'm not that guy. Besides I love Gardenia..." his voice was slowly trailing away in sadness, making Candice a little worried. What was going on? Roark then cleared his throat and said-

"You want to know why Fantina disinvited Volkner both times?"

Candice was getting steamed. "Is that it?" she spouted.

"It's because... Of me." He confessed in broken tones. Candice was shocked. "Why?" she asked him worriedly. Roark then started sniffling a little- something he would never do in public, in spite of being highly expressive. "You know, Fantina was like second mother to me, right? You see, a few years ago, when Gardenia and I were dating; I forgot only one thing in my entire life- she was taken already, by Volkner!" he confessed.

Candice felt like a stone just crushed her heart.

"Gardenia and I were hopelessly in love. We were in our late teens then and it progressed as our adulthood chimed in. What I knew; rather pretended not to was that Gardenia was Volkner's boyfriend, and our affair was intense. She often suffered discomfort by his overall personality and so would open up to me. One day it went completely out of hand, for she and I were talking in a moonless night and in seconds, we were kissing. It wasn't even your usual kiss; it was a hard lined make out with an exchange of tongues!"

"Too much information!" Candice spoke disgusted.

"When we broke it off, we realised one thing- we loved each other too much. Volkner was never her kind anyway, so I saw no reason. After all, people always do stupid things in love, but Volkner was not very close to me as it is, I knew how dangerous this was, but I still went ahead anyway. And face it, if a guy like me could make out with a girl, it clearly means I am truly and most passionately in love. Then we decided then and there that we should start having an affair and so it was set.

Our affair was pretty private to everyone even dad. Only Fantina knew of it, having secretly entertained us before. Then one day, all hell broke loose. We were having a make-out session and..." his voice broke into sobs while saying this "Volkner caught us!"

"It was the worst day of our lives. I still remember him swearing at us and threatening to beat Gardenia, even assaulting me so hard lined. I never saw anything- he never even saw much in her anyway! He swore that he would never even set his eyes on us ever again. I felt so incredibly guilty, because our affair itself was so secret and scandalous, so I begged to Fantina to at least protect her if not me, this being her wedding day to that fiend. She agreed, although after giving him one more chance. Then while leaving, Volkner found me. He chased me all the way to the streets, having already suffered abuse from him; I was being beaten up yet again... Then he did something unthinkable! I cannot mention it to you!" Roark by now was in tears, while Candice was crying in sympathy. Was this the same man who tried rescuing her from Fantina's ex?

She attempted to caress Roark's cheek in affection, but he refrained. "I am still in harsh guilt and trauma of that day. I went to my house dazed and then I fainted in shock. I turned out to have woken up after 3 days, for Fantina had found me in this state and nursed me. After gaining a certain amount of comfort; I told her about Volkner's abuse but told her not to tell the league, for he had failed his engineering exams and so couldn't take a second job, unless he were a mechanic or electrician, which earned him paltry amounts. Don't ask me why I did this, but I told her not to tell him. All the same, he was charged for battery and then acquitted, but I still live under that trauma that Gardenia would no longer be happy with me after this. I tried repressing it, but it just failed. That explains why my words of Volkner are usually spouted with caustic sarcasm and contempt."

Candice couldn't speak for hours after this. Roark was now breaking down and crying profusely.

"Now Fantina is facing it because of me!" he wailed while Candice was crying too. She thought of Volkner as nice, but now she realised he was saving her not for her, but for his love. She wanted to tell Roark this, but he was in no state to speak of him now. After hours of crying, Candice then went up to him and then hugged him. Roark was taken aback- just weeks ago he was doing this to her.

"It's okay, Roark. It's okay. You still have us, and even if you won't, Arceus forbid, you'll still have me. I will be by your side forever. You have suffered enough punishment for this affair, now you are free. Go on, Roark. Please, protect my best friend and be the best husband you can, I beg of you! I know you can do it; I'm there. I'm there!" she consoled while sobbing herself while the two shared an emotional moment full of tension. Roark was crying now not of guilt, but of touched feelings. He was so glad to have Candice as a friend, so totally glad.

"Thanks, Candy!" he sputtered while she hugged. She smiled and then they broke away. While leaving, Roark washed his face and then saw Candice fidgeting. "Come on, let's leave!" he beckoned. "There is one thing..." she mumbled. Roark looked at her with keen interest. "You know, Volkner did once mention to me of having a crush on me... But I don't love him! Especially after hearing of you!" she confessed. Roark looked at her tenderly and smiled.

"You don't love him because he doesn't turn you on. He is very protective of his loves I know that. Try with him, if you like, but I you really dislike him; it shouldn't be because of me. I've never even heard a report of him laying even a finger on Gardenia, so why worry? Just be faithful!" he advised her.

"But I still don't love him!" she confessed.

"Then tell him tactfully. He'll understand. Just don't be cold. I think at times, he's secretly sensitive." Roark said and then left off. Fantina was hearing everything and was feeling glad that he felt better about this. She shut up solely for his sake and Candice could keep dark secrets. Yet she felt it was to be a complete secret and was contented until she heard Byron's voice come out.

"Fantina? I'd like to talk to you in private for a moment..."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15- Coming Clean

Rain suddenly burst out when the two walked outside. It was surprising, for they never expected this weather; fortunately they had an umbrella and each other. Byron blushed while sharing it- he still had a few feelings for Fantina but was willing to relinquish it from her new lover and they were still friends which was quite a mark.

They walked over to a tea shop, rather Patty's patisserie where they started ordering and waited for their order. "Sure fine place, eh?" Byron commented. "Oui, Byron. It is the finest in Unova." Fantina replied. He smiled. "You sure have good taste, eh Fanny?" Fantina smiled. "Byron, ca sufit! You know how I am about such stuff!" she teased. Then they started to chat a bit until the topic got off course.

"Your husband sounds like a lovely person. We will get to meet him on the wedding day, right?" he asked. "Yes you will. No worries." Fantina answered. "Sounds great, but honestly, why such a surprise? The suspense is killing me, Fanny!" he piped. Fantina was getting a little sour. "It's a surprise, mon ami! Isn't that wonderful enough?"She retorted. "I don't know Fantina; it's just that I'm wondering this. You seem to be very excited about your husband, yet you dislike talking of your wedding. Did he plan that as a surprise too?" he inquired. Fantina nodded.

"Just why is everything about you two such a secret? Your wedding is a secret, the date is one and damn even your husband is! Are you honestly very happy about the idea of getting married at all?"

Fantina was shocked. "Why do you ask, mon ami? Of course I am happy about it!" she replied gaily. "That's because every time I talk to you of him, you seem a little down. You can't accuse us of gloating over him for you are the one who talks of him in such glowing terms. So now I ask you my very question- why so much as a secret?" Byron replied.

Fantina was losing her cool slowly. "I just enjoy a surprise, that's what! I was hoping to surprise you people with this too!" she insisted. "I know how you are Fantina. I was your best friend since high school. What I want to know is that you never sound too happy about this relationship now. Why is that? Do you want to be married to him? Do you even love him at all?"

Fantina almost fainted hearing this- it pierced her heart into two.

"See, I knew it! You have some inhibitions about him that prevent you from this. I mean, seriously I was right all along! You don't want to be married!" Byron observed while getting his cake. "Thanks!" he said while putting out a $20 tip. Fantina was feeling very uneasy hearing this. "This is not true, Byron! I have known him for very long and I love him!" she insisted after eating a piece of her blanc mange.

"Since when did only one year become a long time? If you really enjoyed it, it should have felt like fleeting seconds. And that is not a good time either. I mean, seriously he could have even been just a fling you had with some foreigner!" Byron noted. "It is absolutely lies, mensonges répugnant! He is much more than a fling, you know!" she raised out aloud. "A 24 year old boy?" Byron raised an eyebrow. "That's quite an age gap for such a commitment. Come on Fantina, he could be one of those passing bucks who enjoy getting a kick or two by seducing tourists! Besides, you are so much wiser and adult than him, you know it!" Byron didn't dare saying 'old'. Fantina was shocked. "Are you saying I'm not attractive enough for him?" she spurted. Byron turned red. "No, it's nothing like that! I'm just saying that your lover is so young!" he insisted. "You say I'm not good enough for him, am I right? You also say that this is wrong. If you never approved of our wedding, why didn't you tell me before? Why now? When I am so close to getting married!" Fantina spouted angrily.

"I never said that!" he argued.

"Yes you did. Aren't you just being jealous?" she spouted. By now, Byron was getting tired. Why could she not see such a blatant truth was what he was wondering about? There was proof that Fantina could be getting tired of the marriage idea and she was regretting marrying such a youngster.

"I am NOT jealous! To be honest with you, I don't even care about this; I mean you knew Juan for 8 years and you couldn't even last two months with him and now you are marrying a boy you knew for only a year. How long are you going to last? A day?" he spouted. Fantina was shocked by this outburst. She then found her eyes welling up and then tears started streaming down her cheeks. Byron was a little guilty- this was never her intention. Yet he wanted her to come clear with what she was really feeling- so much of secrecy would prove that either something was illicit or that she didn't want to marry Cress.

"Fantina, I" his words were cut off by her tears. "Just leave it be, Byron. You were married to that girl after knowing her for over 10 years and you forsook her and your son for the love of fossils. How can you lecture to me about marriage? Sure there have been such weddings and all, but still! Isn't love that matters? He's 26 year old man, not a minor boy!" she screamed and stormed out, leaving Byron to pay. Then while leaving the place she said "You are wondering why I disinvited Volkner? It's because of your son!" Now Byron was shocked. Quickly paying up, he raced after her in that dark desolate night. Fantina noticed him and then just ignored him- she just let her secret out.

"Fantina, what do you mean that it had to do with my son?" he insisted. "Just go away!" she screamed and pushed him away. "Please!" he pleaded. "He was tormented, poor lad! Is that enough?" she screamed and ran as fast as she could. Byron was now insistent. "What do you mean?!" he hollered. "Why would you need to know?" she yelled back as they ran a wild goose chase until they had to take refuge in a bus stand.

"What the hell did that villain do to my son?!" he yelled as he lifted his hovel high. Fantina sighed and summarised it up quickly, yet regretfully. When she finished, Byron almost felt faint. "Why did you never tell me?" he yelled. "I should have known!" Fantina's tears were louder now and she yelled out to him "Why should you know? You shunned him for over 10 years of his life, never and to be his father and now you wish to know everything of him? How hypocritical is that?!"This was like a slap on Byron's face. "But you couldn't tell me that Volkner did-?" he was now shaking thinking of what his son went through. Fantina just stayed away.

"I did this purely on his insistence. He wanted to protect Gardenia, explaining why he never did this. Besides, Volkner's image is already tainted horribly. So why worry?" Fantina said. Byron was still in shock that he could not save his son which now was making him almost die of regret and heartbreak. By now, it was too late to do anything else, so she decided to go home. But in her hand, there were valises of the many kinds. "Where are you going, Fantina?" he asked. "My husband's house. I have spent far too much time with you!" she spat as she waited for Cress to call. Byron was feeling terrible, but before she left, he turned to her and said

"Just remember what will be happening now. Ask yourself- are you marrying him just to appease the boy or because youreally love him? Just ask yourself and then act. After all he is so young, all but 26 years old. Just think about it, can love ever happen between you two? After all you met him on a holiday; he could probably just go through this and leave you. Just follow your real heart, think not of breaking his. That is what motivated me to go free. Mark my words it'll be the best for you!"

While she was leaving, now Fantina had theses doubts too. Was she really in love with Cress? He was a sweet, charming boy, but she initially had reciprocated because she was feeling guilty of Juan's battering. Even if he had adorable brothers and was a very splendid kisser, she had to think about this. Did she actually fall in love with him or was this a flimsy facade. This was something she had to ponder about...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16- Heightening Tensions

The trio finally made it to the meeting. It was about time, for all the girls would talk about is Cress' unions and now they were finally talking about something serious- like Cress' abandonment of his superior. Even the Elite were talking of it, much to his displeasure.

"Sir Cress Casterstone abandoning his post and his superior? Now that is news!" Grimsley piped up.

"I couldn't agree more. What do you say about it, Burgh?" Marshal piped up.

"Just leave me be. I'm busy." Burgh snapped while working on his painting.

Cress wished he could die. Close to everyone was talking negative of him and he hated it.

"I never expected the kid to do such a thing. This ain't any good at all, 'know!" Clay retorted.

"Whatever!" Caitlin fell down for a nap on the sofa.

"All the same, it makes a good plot. A young lad who abandons even his closest friends in order to get redemption... not bad. Or even better, one in which he leaves it for a young love! Now that would be good!" Shauntal observed loudly which almost made Grimsley crack up and Caitlin was now in a deep sleep. Marshal almost puked hearing the idea and the other leaders stared at her disconcertingly. Cress on the other hand was feeling faint. Did this woman by any chance read thoughts? Arceus forbid- if this were true, he would be as good as dead! The entire league was against him in the subtlest of ways and he was struggling to avoid all glances while Cilan and Chilli were dying of embarrassment. The only two people who were rather casual were Elesa and Skyla who were discussing matter over high tea. It hit him instantly- they certainly would have squealed something when he specifically warned then NOT to.

Cress was steamed hearing everything and walked over to Elesa and Skyla who were talking over cupcakes. "You lied to me!" he scowled. "Want cupcakes?" Skyla asked cheerfully while Elesa just glanced at him. "Stop pretending! You spread the secret, didn't you?" he snapped. "But Cress, you know that it would have gotten to them anyway." Elesa stated coldly. Cress was finally snapping, not at their vile comments alone as much as the girls' betrayal. "I thought I trusted you enough to keep a secret." He stuttered almost sniffling. "Guess I was wrong." He shrugged and walked away from them, hoping to get a day of quiet and making it evident that he had nothing to do with them anymore. He just slunk onto an armchair and started texting Fantina, hoping she'd return soon.

In his opinion, she'd been away for too long from him and needed to get home as soon as possible. He hoped to see her again, missing her so badly! Overdoing or not, he wanted her and right now would be the best time. He was still seething with hatred and embarrassment though, and royally ignored he girls during the whole meeting. Then again, the whole league including his brothers gave him the cold shoulder, for he was keeping too much a secret, much too much for his own good.

Once the meeting had a lunch break, the others dispersed for a few foie gras and au gratins while Cress helped himself to some rarer delicacies. Soon he felt a booming shadow loom over him while all others immediately stopped what they were doing. Cress ignored this half-heartedly and was about to eat his pork loins when he heard a grunt from behind.

"Ahem!"

Cress almost jumped out of his skin and turned round. He almost choked seeing Alder stand lose to him, him being so monstrously tall. Cress gulped- what was he here for? He clearly looked like he was in a foul mood.

"Can I help you, sir?" he stuttered. Alder's stolid expression didn't change.

"Unbelievable Cress! You abandon the whole league's coronation and my retirement for a ridiculous whim? How could you?" he gushed. Cress felt his cheeks and ears burn- he hated betraying anyone being a man of his word.

"Sir, I assure you- I never even thought of this; I planned this a long time ago!" Cress stated sadly.

"That's our point. You make some secret plans and don't even bother altering it for something as important as this- you think that this is a joke? You think that retiring means that you just ungratefully sever ties with everyone without even a parting gesture? How could you, Cress? It even disheartens someone like me!" Alder cried. Cress was feeling even guiltier hearing this.

"Truth is sir, I planned it with someone else; and she needs it this time." Cress pointed out. "Who, a friend? What happened to her?" Alder asked. "Hospital visit." Cress lied while Chilli face palmed. "Hospital injury cannot be it, Cress- that's what Cilan told me. You couldn't have planned this at all- it is something else. What is it? At least tell me!" Alder begged. Cress was now feeling threatened- his secret safe haven for him and Fantina was breaking apart- he wanted a private life with her post retirement and now everyone was determined to steal it away from him.

"It is nothing at all, really." Cress said. "Impossible!" Alder stated, but Cress still said the same until Alder just burst out in a now wistful face "Cress- after all everyone has done for you, you replay them this way? I am already going through a lot of trouble and now you put me and the league through more? Hell, even your brothers are suffering because of you! You think that just because you are a leader you can just throw your weight around, you arrogant, ignorant child? Just because you know a hell lot of French and have a connoisseur family doesn't make you any more special and classy, get that!"

That was the final burning point for Cress. He had gone through too much already and now Alder was only compounding his grief by his outburst. Desperate to let go and now losing all his patience, Cress turned round and yelled "So what? It's not like I'm leaving you in danger or your worst points am I? I just want to leave and start a whole new life and you berate me for that too now? I told you already that I am sorry and yet that isn't enough for you, is it? What the hell do you want from me?!"

He then swung around and slammed his fists on the table with pure rage.

"All I want to do is get married to my lover and now you get all antsy over it for no reason. Every single damn person on this Arceus forsaken planet is not supporting me, heck even my own brothers are not! I apologised, how am I supposed to tell her than I cannot marry her because of a work commitment? What kind of a husband will I be else? So what if she is over 20 years older than me, so freaking what? At least I'd be happy, but no- you guys accuse me of blatant disrespect and annoyance when all I am doing is being a good fiancé and husband! What kind of people are you? Tell me, why? WHY?! WHY ARE YOU BEING SO AGAINST ME JUST BECAUSE I LOVE SOMEBODY SO MUCH? WHHHYYYYY!?"

By now, Cress was shaking so hard he could actually be mistaken for an epileptic- a deranged one.

The whole room was silent by now seeing Cress in such rage, even if he was being melodramatic- his brothers knew him to well, but they themselves were so shocked by this that they were just as astonished by his behaviour. Alder himself was stunned by Cress' outburst- maybe he judged him harshly, but this- never expected, certainly not from him. An air of silence spread through the whole building waiting for his anger to subside and for someone to break this unnerving silence.

Grimsley's mouth dropped open. "You're getting married?!" Cress nodded coldly.

Caitlin woke up hearing this. "Unbelievable, Cress- you're wedding? Who's the lucky lady?" Marshal asked bewildered. Cress was still feeling hardened, but he answered "My girlfriend of a year. She's French." Now their mouths gaped even larger- was he kidding? They turned to Cilan and Chilli who gave them looks of approval- Cress was getting married and his girlfriend really was French.

"No way, Cress! You're getting married?" By now Cress was feeling immeasurably guilty about it. "Then why did you keep it such a secret, not even telling us?" Cress almost cried, with all his anger gone and now being basically very disappointed with how he treated Alder. The league knew by then that only the leaders were called, thereby feeling very insulted.

"Honestly, Cress how could you? After all we have done for you..." Alder was no longer angry, but sad. "Guess you don't need us anymore." He said shrugging and then snapping his fingers, proclaimed "Meeting is adjourned." Everyone walked out, with only a few murmurs spreading here and there with Alder sending a last wistful look to Cress.

While the others went, Cress was weeping on a bench. "Why was I doing this?" was all he could say to the air. Then he wondered himself- was forsaking Alder the right thing after all he did for them? What if he didn't love Fantina at all? What if he was just in this to prove a point? Maybe he should forget her and leave her, but even the thought nearly killed him. Then he remembered Fantina was ain her friends' house. From what Elesa told him, she had quite a few male friends and her best friend Roark was one of them. The very thought made him shudder- what if they were attracted to Fantina and tried flirting with her? Worse, what if she fell for them? Hell, even with Elesa he was distrustful of everyone of stealing Fantina, and no matter how noble her reasons were of staying away, he wanted and needed her right then and right now. He called her up on final time.

"Allo? Cress? What happened?" Fantina's voice piped out almost choked.

"Fantina, you're crying? Why?" Cress was worried. "Just a little fight with my friends, a silly one they aren't forgiving me for." She replied. "What? I'll go and..." Fantina cut him off. "Let it be, mon amour- it is but a trifle."

"Fantina I miss you! Please come home, I need you!" Cress pleaded fervently in the phone, nearly crying again which made Fantina a bit sad.

"Ah, oui oui. When should I come over?" Fantina asked.

"Come over at about 9 to the bus stop. I'll pick you from there." Cress said before sending her a flying kiss across and leaving. He wanted Fantina back home at any cost. Soon it began to rain, which was unexpected, but the whole atmosphere was gloomy, so he just casually walked away and got an umbrella to get her home.

It was dark and desolate. Cress had no problems walking, he could just take her home as he liked. He edged near the station with the rain thundering right behind. He edged closer and closer until... "Who is that man?"

Fantina was there with Byron, but not speaking to him. Cress was shocked- who the hell was he? He would be pulp had the silhouette not been so burly. At the same time, he was furious- why was Fantina with him at such an hour on a rainy night? Was she cheating on him? Yet he felt a bit hypocritical after everything he did, yet he was angry. He just yelled out to her in order to maintain the suspense, after all- he could have just been Fantina's friend. Or was he?

"Yo, Fantina! I've gotta take you home, Chilli here!" he lied. Fantina almost cackled hearing this- she knew it was Cress and his lies were redundant. Nevertheless, she said goodbye to Byron and then they got into Cress' car where they sat while the chauffeur drove. Cress seemed silent and motionless.

"Cress, mon ami? Why the sad face?" Fantina asked while placing a hand on his shoulder. Cress just pushed it away and said angrily "Fantina, I need to talk to you. I'm sorry fro such behaviour, but I am utterly and totally disappointed..."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17- Great Hopes Gone

Roark sat there placidly eating. Of course, knowing what would lie ahead of this day, he chose to eat a frugal meal, more so for his body's convenience. And of course, there were other things he could deal with later, but whatever.

This is vacation! One is meant to enjoy oneself!

He also planned a visit to Elesa's house. After all it had been almost 12 years since they met, so it seemed only fair to him to see her. Of course, nobody else would really mind, but then again- he wanted to keep Elesa a secret from Gardenia. He thought of Elesa as pretty, but all the sane, he was a monogamist and a good one. Yet he just felt like keeping Elesa a secret- nobody would leave him alone else.

He already told Byron, who didn't really mind. After all, Roark knew very few girls. The others seemingly did not care and Fantina was playing with her Pokémon in the house. Soon, everyone packed up with their breakfast and turned to feeding their Pokémon.

"Who wants her lovey-dovey absolutely adorable little bitter poffin?" Candice gushed to her Glaceon which made Maylene almost puke. Why would anyone even think of such an inscrutably gross statement?

Roark was just chilling, having fed Cranidos a good amount at the table itself. While master and Pokémon were chilling, a furious Gardenia emerged from the room. Roark looked at her for a second and smiled- ah she was such a beautiful young angel! He sure was lucky to have ever associated with her. Smiling at Gardenia and totally oblivious to her rampant fury, he just swerved round and asked her jovially "Morning, love! What brings you here at such an hour?"

Instead of a sweet sugary reply, he got a hard resounding slap on the face which clearly shocked everybody as they stared at this furious young lady who was their beloved gym leader. Roark slumped to the floor and stared in shock and guilt, wondering what the hell did he just do to her and why he had to be subjected to such torture by Gardenia? Gardenia was furious and practically steaming, shaking like an epileptic and her fists were clenched in boiling wild anger. The other leaders were shocked by such an outburst, but were too nervous to attempt stopping Gardenia in such a tirade. Fantina was pretty oblivious to this, playing tag with her Mismagius outside.

"You idiot!" Gardenia screeched at and ear piercing frequency. "How could you ever even dream of signing such a prenuptial agreement without consent?!"

The leaders thought they had lost it. Did Gardenia just say 'prenuptial'? And Roark signed a prenuptial?

Roark though, was stammering and cowering in fear. Nursing his red cheeks and Cranidos hiding behind him, Gardenia was capable to just break the young miner's bones in his seemingly fragile body.

"Ho...how?" was all Roark could stammer.

"Let me guess. I walk to your room to water that zinnia and what do I find stashed somewhere? A freaking prenup which hasn't even been viewed by me; let alone signed!" Gardenia yelled waving that yellow document in his face and almost making him sneeze. The leaders were stunned, except Maylene who had no idea what a prenuptial was.

A curious Wake went up to her and said "Gardenia, is this true?" Gardenia gave him such a menacing glare that it nearly froze that bulky man in place, but gave it to him anyway. "Give it back ASAP, or else..." Wake unfurled the documents and read the contents and felt faint. He quickly handed it over to Byron and the others, who read it with intent.

"By Arceus, this is a prenuptial agreement! And it only has Roark's signature!" Byron stated.

Candice almost cried reading this. Why would Roark of all people ever do such an inhumanely kind thing to her best friend? The very logic just broke her at that very minute.

Still furious, Gardenia yelled "Of all the acts you have done, I find this the most derisive and horrible! How could you even dream of signing such an agreement without at least showing it to me?!"

Roark was feeling horrible, his insides being eaten out as if.

Gardenia was almost intent in tearing apart that paper. "Just why, Roark? Am I not good enough for you? Have you found someone else?"

"What? No!" Roark insisted.

"Don't lie to me!" she screamed menacingly. "What is it about me you hate?"

"I... I can't tell that in public, love!" Roark said stupidly. Now livid, she slapped him even harder on the same cheek, so much so it bled. The others were just silent spectators to this horrible argument.

"Why on earth did you do something like this?!" she wailed. "This is the most unromantic thing ever done I the history of romances!" Candi9ce was seemingly agreeing "Roark, why?" was what she could mouth out in horror. Roark stared at both in astonishment- he never was a very romantic man anyway! How could they ever hold that against him? Right now, he wanted to say "But love, I ain't Paul McCartney, you know! I ain't romantic, you know it!" but shut up due to suffering her wraths even before. Gardenia looked like she could cry.

Sick of this melodramatic act, Roark finally spoke up "For Arceus' sake Gardenia, why are you getting so hyped up? A prenuptial is the best thing that I could do for us together! Besides, we aren't marrying so early anyway, so why worry?" Gardenia looked at him in the eye- he actually dared to argue?

"Best for us? Are you on crack or something? It's the worst thing you could ever do for me! And the most unromantic thing in my life- ever!" she screamed. Roark by now was getting sick of this, so he yelled back. "Seriously, Gardenia why are you annoying me so much? I pretty much gave you half of my property in that agreement! A least be happy with that!"

"Do you think of me as a gold-digger? Is that all you perceive of me? Roark, I don't want your money! All I want right now is you! Why don't you ever figure that? Property is meaningless to me when you aren't even going to even live with me!"

"Gardenia, prenups are handy when we divorce, not when we are engaged."

"But why did you do this without my consent? I never even knew you were doing such a thing!"

"For Arceus' sake, I gave everything fair and square, so stop complaining."

"But why did you not tell me? Are my opinions that useless to you?"

"They are if they are unintelligent." Roark was clearly using his sarcastic rhetoric and it wasn't becoming pleasant.

"Roark, at least think before speaking you retarded numbskull! Who on earth would be so intelligent enough to lead you to the rock of your dreams?!"

"That isn't it. My dream rocks are to be found during the palaeontology tour in May." Saying which Roark pushed off to find Fantina.

"You're WHAT?!"

Roark just sighed and tureen round. As anybody ever going to leave him alone?

"I said, I am going to go off in May or so for Lenora's palaeontology lessons. She gave me a pass for it." Roark replied and was about to leave when Gardenia's iron hand was on him shoulders.

"What nonsense are you spouting... you're leaving without telling any of us? Gah, I should have known... we just are not good enough for you, are we?" Gardenia spouted coldly and walked away. With this, Roark snapped.

"Oh really? Since when did engagement mean that you control my life?" he argued. "I'm just concerned about you, damn it!" Gardenia yelled. "Oh really? Then why don't you just let me be and live my life in peace?" he cooed. Gardenia was about to slap him again, but felt it had no point.

"Yeah, you mean involving signing a prenup without my consent? Sure thing! Maybe it would if we never even engaged at all." Roark, having enough screamed "So now you are divorcing me on such baseless grounds? Oh great? You know what, take my ring back. I have no use for it. Heck, I probably won't even have any use for it when we are married, like say after 2 years, or maybe even a day!" Candice fainted- she couldn't believe what she heard.

Gardenia herself was stunned. "You mean you don't believe in any of this togetherness at all?" she asked choking. Roark almost laughed "Really, Gardy, are you on crack or something? You actually are one of those old fashioned women who think marriages can last in today's world? Heck, I don't even think it can last for a day! That's one reason I never do this stuff, okay; as it is tons of dads abandon their kids! Signing the prenup was the best thing I could do, for us and any future kids. At least if nothing once divorced I can get you off my back about alimony and all that shit."

He then walked off without a word, while Gardenia just choked out "I doubt I have anything to do with you anymore!" while running off and slamming the door hard.

The other leaders were busy reviving Candice and themselves recovering from the cynical spouting from contempt from Roark's mouth when Fantina entered. "I see Roark has gone somewhere, non?" Byron face palmed and Wake sighed.

"Trust me Fantina, you have no idea..."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18- Off Normal

The whole ride was basically very rocky, rather socially awkward. Fantina's attempts to talk to her young fiancé were quashed by his apparent anger for something as trivial as talking to another man. Fantina initially thought of this as a young love's problem, making her wonder whether marrying Cress was a good idea herself. After all, he was almost old enough to be her son and was particularly emotional and sensual, even talking to Elesa earned her his psychological wrath.

When they got home, Cress opened the door and then stormed inside. "Cress, mon ami? What is wrong?" she asked. "I told you to shut it till we get home!" he snapped. "But we are home!" she insisted. He said nothing and just slumped onto a chair. Cilan and Chilli greeted him with their usual bewildered yet cold stare, but loosened up on seeing Fantina. They greeted her politely and she sat on the chair, feeling ridiculously uncomfortable by Cress' erratic behaviour. Chilli sensed that, having noticed his wayward behaviour over the weeks. Wanting to clear the air for a while, he moved over towards Cilan.

"You man, I'm pooped! Can you get me some of those chocolate biscuits that you made last week?" he asked. Cilan shied "Absolutely not! The last time I did that, you had twenty of them once and swore never to even look at them again. My heart was broken, you know." Chilli then gave him a menacing stare. "I want. NOOOW!" he yelled like a deranged Abomasnow. Cilan suffered seeing this side of him and reluctantly complied. "Okay, but if you start puking like last time, don't you dare say I didn't warn you!" he warned while walking away. Chilli just rolled his eyes and watched him going.

"Going, going gone!" then when he felt the time was it, he grabbed Cress' collar and snarled, much to Fantina's displeasure "What is wrong with you? You've been acting totally insane over these weeks and I'm freaking out..." Cress was taken aback by such an attack, even if it was from the world's most hot headed brother ever. "What the hell are you saying? I'm doing just fine okay!" Cress insisted. Chilli's grip tightened "I don't care about what stupid lies you tell me, but you can't fool Fantina. What have you been doing lately and why are you acting so annoyed and angry?" he yelled. Cress seemed unfazed. "Chilli, you're acting totally deranged now. Everyone has their bad days, you know." He stated.

"Why do I find that so incredibly hard to believe?"

"Because you are plain stupid."

"Oh really? About what? Are you opposing my wedding now?"

"Opposing? Hell no, I'm trying to save it by asking you- why are you behaving so weirdly?"

"What weird? I mean I had a bit of a bad encounter, so? Everyone has their flip days!"

"You aren't even talking to her, let alone anything else!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about. You think that being in a relationship is fun and games? We have our bad moments too, you know- times we actually shut up about each other!"

"But why won't you talk to her? Even I can admit that it's necessary!"

"My business, Magikarp face!"

"Oh yeah? How about we settle this the man way? Not like you'll score anything, being a girly twit..."

"Bring it on, buster!"

Just when Cress was positioning to fight and Chilli had successfully ripped his shirt, a bewildered Cilan entered the room and was in a shock to see the brothers behaving like savages. Fantina was a silent, pensive spectator to this whole spectacle which was becoming seemingly more and more senseless each minute. Cilan almost dropped everything, but then, in his politest and most classy voice, spoke out "Chilli, I have your cookies!"

Chilli then turned around and saw his shocked brother. Cress was horribly embarrassed and wanted to say something, but Chilli just rolled his eyes and walked to the whole cookie packet, almost gobbling it up in a minute. The amazing senses he'd feel when he sank his teeth into those soft delectable delights were just an amazing pleasure one could never ever fathom in their lives, what Chilli could feel. His tongue was tantalised every minute it set itself onto those cookies and he almost moaned feeling every little taste of it. He then saw Fantina mid his eating spree and blushed, then shyly offering her a cookie. "You have to eat this. It rocks!" he stated. Fantina giggled and then she took a cookie, glad to having seen the two brothers relatively reconcile.

"So, what was going on right here?" Cilan asked sternly.

"Nothing much, just a little manly brawl, sibling domination." Cress replied tactfully. "And of course, Sir Grumpig is absolutely dying to chew upon that delectable reward. Though frankly, I'm pretty glad- he'd have creamed me in a minute!" Cress silently added. Cilan shrugged- Chilli was pretty weird even for them. "Say, I need some help in the kitchen, care to join me?" he asked. Cress nodded and walked past then shooting a stern look at Chilli as if saying "Dare not mess with my girl."

While they were gone, Fantina saw Chilli eating like a pig again. He noticed this. "You want another?" he offered. Fantina smiled and accepted this, slowly biting into the chocolate filled treat, making Chilli blush. "I guess you think I'm pretty gluttony, huh?" he spoke out. Fantina looked at him in surprise. "Not much, dear. I know you enjoy eating a lot, I had a chocolate addiction in my childhood too." She shared, making him smile- at least somebody got him. Then she misled and said "You know, Chilli, you really have to learn how to enjoy your food. I mean, don't eat as if it would die, start chewing, slowly as if you are going through a pleasurable ride of your life. Engage all your senses in eating it, you'll fell heavenly. Come on, try it!" she encouraged. "I'm an expert eater, I'd have to know!" she joked.

Chilli smiled and then did so slowly and he loved it! He could taste everything, from the finely granulated sugar to the sensually bitter coca- everything just melted into his mouth and he did feel heavenly, as if riding a beautiful love boat and hearing soothing harp music- free from care and all possible worries. Fantina was right- it rocked! But what really excited him was seeing Fantina eat the same cookie. Ah what a joy it was- her teeth sunk straight in and chocolate oozed from the cookie, smearing straight onto her mouth and dripping down. Even seeing her chew was so beautiful, as if it was the sound of Cresselia herself. Seeing her in that chocolate trance brought him into one too, as if mutually bound by the bonds of chocolate. Ah it was so amazing! Fantina then noticed the dripping chocolate and quickly flicked her tongue to remove it- this got Chilli blushing scarlet- what was happening to him? Why was he feeling this way? It felt so powerful, so beautiful as if everything in the world rocked again- was it love?

He was dying to know actually inching closer to her in a hope of licking off that oozing chocolate from her lips. He was closer, until uncomfortably close, then he was almost going to lean into her until he heard a piercing yell from the kitchen.

"You're WHAT?!"

"I think so, Cress- please forgive me, you know how I feel about this!"

"But you're leaving her, why? After everything she did for you?!"

"She never even cared an inch for me, so why should I care? Stop siding with her and learn that there is more than what meets your eyes at times!"

Then they both heard plates crash and then Fantina raced to know, with Chilli following, now feeling guilty about this feeling he had. When they got there, they saw a sweating Cilan sitting here with a fuming Cress. "You need help. I'm on it!" he proclaimed throwing a cold stare at Cress while cleaning up the broken crockery while Fantina stared contritely at the fallen Cilan. "What happened, mon ami? You frightened me!" she stated shocked. Cilan looked up at her in tears, which shocked her even more. "Fantina...I... I don't love my girlfriend anymore!" he stated sobbing. "Why is that?" she asked kindly. "I just don't know, The feelings are gone, even though I never cheated..."

"Who may this lady be? Maybe I can help." She stated kindly while dragging Cilan out of that panic room.

"You have no idea, Fantina. Life has changed after Iris became famous. I love being her partner and all, but there is much more than I need to know of this. I think I fancy someone else." He stated still sweating. Fantina looked a little puzzled. "Who is she, amour?" she asked. Cilan blushed and swallowed hard.

"The last person I ever imagined. It's Burgundy!..."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19- One of those Days

So Fantina basically heard about everything Cilan had felt about his altering love-life, with her getting more and more astounded by how he was so willing to betray someone he was close to for 5 years. Still feeling shocked by it, she just walked away and scooted over to her room.

Out there, she was wondering about everything happening in her life. She was going to get married to such an adorable sweetheart of a man whom she felt she knew for a lifetime, going to have a family of her own and two adorable brothers who would be her in-laws. They were rich, sweet and sophisticated. They both had heart and soul. Fantina loved Cress very much, yet she felt something with just wrong in their relationship. Not the age difference, but the whole suddenness of it all. Cress was young and immature, not to mention horribly insecure- which was unthinkable, for she was a faithful woman, it was Juan who cheated on her. Yet she felt that now was too early and in spite of being such a gentleman, she felt Cress was more of a child than a lover. How could someone like him ever be her husband?

She also wondered whether she was the right woman. Byron's words echoed in her mind. Was he really the right one? Did she really love him for the man he was or to keep him appeased? After all she never liked breaking hearts. At that very minute, Byron rang up. Scowling initially, she picked it up and spoke out.

"Allo?"

"Hi, Fantina. Are you still mad at us?"

"Oh yes, you. Bonjour, what do you want? I'm already gone."

"Look, Fanny- I know that we got overboard, but I'm sorry, rather, we're sorry. I mean, it's okay if you don't want to come back; we're just issuing an apology from our sides."

"Byron, I don't know- I mean, things are getting pretty hard for me. Speaking of which, how is life back at the house?"

"Terrible, I'm feeling really low all this week. So much happened and yesterday took the cake."

"What?!"

"The whole house is out of order. Even Wake and I can do absolutely nothing. Candice is feeling guilty for not reciprocating Volkner's love and she is behaving irrationally for the past few weeks or so, Wake misses you, Maylene is getting bored and wants to see her dad, I'm losing it being here and Roark and Gardenia are furious with each other. They actually want to annul the engagement."

"Sucre bleu! But why?!"

"Strangely enough, my boy signed a prenuptial without her consent, I have no idea if it is legalised yet, but all the same, he said he did this for her sake and now she wants no association with him at all. It is horrible."

Fantina couldn't speak for a while. When she could, all she could muster was "How?"

"It's worse than you imagined. They are screaming, spouting insults at each other, getting hot under the collar, avoiding each other and already calling up the courts. I'm not very surprised if they do annul it, they're so angry at each other, almost to the point of breaking glasses and throwing dishes at each other. The house in intense tension, I don't know what we men can do."

"Would they like to talk to me?"

Byron relented "Roark- will you" but he was cut short by yet another argument with the couple.

"I've had it with this- we're going tomorrow itself for the annulment. We're breaking up permanently!" Gardenia screamed with alacrity.

"Like I care? Good to know you'll be off me back!" Roark retorted.

"Sure thing, loser!" Gardenia flung yet another dish at him while Roark already armed himself with a baseball bat.

By now, he was tempted enough to thrash her when Byron finally snapped and yelled.

"I am losing it here... GET OUT!" Then he promptly booted the two enemies out into the darkness and then turned to Fantina.

"See what I mean?" he moaned. Fantina was feeling sicker every minute. "Why, Byron? It was your very idea to reject me for following my heart. Did you ever, ever think of what he did to your son even once? I bet you don't even know the first thing of him now, do you?" she spouted. Byron was pretty shocked- what was she saying?

"I cannot be any more surprised. Did you even know that he assaulted your son so hard I nearly had to take him to hospital for treatment due to punctured lungs and that I had been in such sorrow for your boy? Did you even know that I had kept sheltering your son and gardenia from Volkner because he was so callous about her? Did you even know that Roark nearly died in hospital and Volkner was bailed out after a two month incarceration for battery? Did you even have the faintest idea? I was the one there; I was looking after your son!"

By now Byron was feeling shockingly weak. His face had paled an intense much. "Are you serious, now?" was all he could muster possible. Fantina wanted to nod but yelled crustily "Unbelievable, Byron. I knew of your apathy before, but this too much. I cannot say anything more- you have inflicted upon yourself. Leave me be now, I have nothing more." By now Fantina was crying, she was in such pain even saying those awful words.

"I don't even know what to do now Byron- I'm starting to regret my engagement a mile a minute and I have no idea whether I want to marry at all, but after seeing your true colours, I saw no reason to return. Goodbye Byron I have to go."

Fantina hung up and cried- she remembered it all and hated everything. She hated Volkner with a burning passion and wanted to murder him, but didn't due to the goodness of her heart. Rather it was to save herself as a leader and an untainted citizen. All the same, it was eating her inside and she wanted to tell someone except Byron, who almost fainted; pale in shock.

At that very minute, Chilli saw her and entered. "Fantina? What happened? Cress was expecting you for such a long time! I know what an inconsiderate moron, but well, you know." He said. Fantina dried her tears and smiled- what would Cress even know of her feelings, let alone care; the cocky, possessive lad he was?

"I'll be down in a minute, mon amour..."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20- Usual Blister

"Fantina, what's taking you so long? I feel like I've been waiting for an eon or so!" Cress' voice shot sharply across while his lady walked down the stairs. He seemed pretty tense and gave Chilli an acid look while he was following suit, seemingly furious with her tardiness; yet when he saw her tear stained face, he was about to explode, but he kept cool, for if he ever discovered anyone even making a glance, he'd be dead, pummelled meat.

"What happened to you? You look flustered." He stated. Fantina denied and was about to walk away when he grabbed her hand, making her blush and yet turn around. "You cannot hide from me." He said. Fantina attempted to brush it off, but what use was it now? After all, even Byron never seemed to care and Cress was her lover after all.

"My friend... he suffered. So, so very much." Was all she could muster at the moment and then walked away hard. Cress was stupefied. "Fantina, what are you saying? I do not understand, speak to me!" Cress ordered but she would just move away further and further until Cress finally cornered her in the living room while Chilli watched abashed, yet did nothing- Cress would figure out anyway.

"Fantina!" he yelled as he saw her on the sofa brimming with tears. "What is going on? Who is hurt, how and why? Tell me, I am your lover, aren't I?" She seemed too weak to speak. How could she possibly tell a man whom she perceived as a perfect stranger about Roark about what had happened to him that night? When Volkner had battered him to a catatonic state and almost murdered him in retaliation to stealing Gardenia? That she had to be with him in hospital for a year because Byron never even knew of it, let alone cared? What would Cress know of such extremities? He may only sympathise, but he never knew of the relationship she had with Roark; a step motherly, affectionate one. How could he understand, he was a boy! A paranoid, chocolate boy who would suspect everyone of everything and had not the slightest ounce of trust in her even though she was old enough to be his mother. For all she knew, he would suspect her of dating him or worse; laugh it off.

"Go on, tell me! What must I know that you have not told?" he declared.

"It is not for you to know, mon ami!" She screamed. Cress was shocked by such an answer and its intensity. Never before had he been rebuked so intensely by Fantina, even if she was serious. Fantina was usually an easy going, yet extroverted young lady, but she never ever screamed with such horror and passion in her voice, ever. He was shivering a little, a little overwhelmed by her actions. Yet he attempted to keep calm and be a diplomat.

"Honestly, Fantina; why are you doing this to me? I mean, I know you may be horrified, but why won't you tell me? I'd know best, won't I?" he spoke. This got no less a favourable a response from her, who then yelled out "How would you know what is happening? You are but a child in such matters!" Cress was shocked by this, and his cool was wearing off.

"I may be a 'child', but I'd be your husband someday, so at least treat me with respect, if nothing!"

"You still will never understand, like a wilful little boy!"

"Can I help it I am not manly?! Can't you at least tell me? After all my intelligence is what is meant to be seen!"

"Intelligent you are, empathetic you are not!"

"Are you accusing me of abuse? After everything I did for you..."

"Who said I was abusing you, mon amour? I am just stating a point!"

"How could you be so cold and callous about me? Do you not love me anymore? Maybe that explains why you stood me up on that day..."

"Dates I can have anytime, my friends needed me and I had to be there!"

"Now you care more about them than me? What am I to you, a sugar daddy?"

"How could you be so disrespectful? Why would I ever see you that way? I am 21 years older than you! And I love you!"

"You are older than me and that uis all the matter."

"Cress... it is pointless. You are as inconsiderate as Juan was. You are but a shadow of him."

Cress was stunned hearing these words from her. Being compared to an ex was certainly no honour, but being on par with the blighter? Even worse! Especially when Cress had fought him before!

"Why would I not be?" he said seething with anger. "You just leave me in the lurch when I least expect it and push off with your friends; of course I'd be that way!"

"You know nothing of them. That Byron never even once showed any concern for his son..."

"What?! You were with a man? An older man?!"

"Yes I was problem? Even if he is my first love; I had to show him some care, else what kind of a person am I?"

Cress lost it. He had heard enough. Fantina was chatting with her ex boyfriend and her first love; what was worse? Being ditched on his wedding day? No, he'd never let that happen. Even if she was his senior, he would never let her go; even if it meant restriction.

"You... I don't ever want to see your face with another man but me!"

Fantina almost died of laughter and embarrassment hearing this. "You say you are young, a new generation member and you think so regressively? Even a gentleman would know better than that! Byron is married; why would I ever want to go out with him? He even divorced her; life was so bad! "

"Byron is divorced, that' every reason for you to fall for him!"

"Are you being paranoid or plain stupid? He is divorced because of his apathy and his bad priorities; else he would have been married for over 30 years! I knew that, I saw it! Else would I ever leave?" but regretting the statement.

Cress almost fainted- Fantina was hinting at leaving him!

"I've just had it with you!" he yelled as he slammed his fist on the tables. "Cheat on me; go out with others and now admitting that you love him more? Why would you not? He is your first love! Why not just leave me and go with him? Not so hard, is it? Just go- I never want to see your face again!" he handed a signal to the door while Fantina stared shocked- was he just asking her to walk out of his life?

Cilan just walked inside and was seeing Cress' anger emanate, it frightened him. "Cress, are you okay?" he whimpered but when he saw what was actuallly happening, he was shocked.

"I said GET OUT!" Cress yelled attempting to throw a glass plate at her but Cilan then ran inside and stopped him. "Are you losing it, assaulting a lady?" he screamed. The plate had grazed his hand and shards fell inside it, though and he was writhing in pain while Chilli stared shocked and Fantina was deathly pale. She ran off crying and locked herself up.

While in there, she was wailing loudly. It was weird though, she last cried after a fight when she was Byron's lady. Could this mean she really loved him? An awakening jolted in her. She really did! She loved Cress for real! And nothing would ever stop that, or would it?...


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21- Heart Bared Open

Cress felt no shame in shaming Fantina, because a- he didn't and b- he didn't want to have his woman staying out with some guys; of all people her ex! All the same, he did wonder about one thing- was she crying. All his life he had never even made any girl shed a tear, not even Elesa. He had never seen Fantina ever cry except during his fight with Juan, but this time, it seemed different. It was almost that as if she was hurt by his actions, and fear of losing him. That meant... she really loved him! At last he understood, after all Fantina was one of the women who really cared after all. But his happiness was still going to be cut short and not just by his maniacal paranoia.

The lights were as bright as ever and the scarlet door flashing off its regalia. Yet there was something acerbic about the whole atmosphere as if one of dissonance and pain. Of course, Cress was going to figure this out pretty soon. Cilan, nursing his grazed hand walked up to Cress from behind and spoke in a very formal tone.

"Cress, we have to talk."

Feeling a little nervous, he was in no mood to lecture Cilan about treating his wife, but he stopped dead in his tracks for Cilan's bleeding hand was making him feel horrible inside and his stolid face actually frightened him a bit, so he just stared into his eyes with the frightened fear of the unknown coming from a family member. Chilli was also following suit with that unnervingly cold stare that they both gave him and finally, they spoke.

"Cress, we have been hiding this for a long time and we decided we have to come out of it now. It's been too much and we cannot stand it anymore." Cilan spoke with a grimly formal undertone. Chilli just nodded, being poor with evocative words. Cress was beginning to simmer a bit. "What do you mean?" he mumbled. "It's about someone you're close to- it's about your wife!"

By now he looked as dead as a doornail.

"Look, we know that you have done all these acts out of pure love but..." Cress stopped them "It is my wife I care about okay? I don't want her to leave me I want to be all she ever wanted, so shut up!" Cress blurted. Cilan seemed perturbed. "Let me finish, Cress. It is not about your treatment of her, which as much as it is bordering on abusively illegal... it is about the whole fact you even got her here in the first place!"

Cress seemed disturbed. What was going on?

"I am absolutely amazed by the fact that you never even told us you wanted to marry her, let alone propose! How could you possibly not tell us and just do away with it? Do you think that just because we are your twin brothers, we'll forgive every damn move you step? Proposing without telling us, leaving the country and abandoning your ever so helpful superior... what kind of man are you?!"

"W...who told you I'm emigrating?" Cress mumbled nauseously.

"Who cares about the blooming source? We discovered it, so you're screwed, that's what!" Chilli taunted.

Cress was streaming- who could possibly be so inconsiderate as to spread secrets, even if it was true?

"We never even heard a peep from you about the whole issue. I mean, why? We even forced ourselves to retire from the job we absolutely love, even if we sucked at it! I nearly suffered a heart attack when you announced our retirement! I never even fathomed in my fantasies that you'd do such a thing! All over some woman we hardly even knew about let alone met! I mean, we know how much you loved Fantina and all, but we never got to see her until months ago in that contest hall or even know her personally till late!"

Cress was shivering- he never wanted to include them in his plans anyway.

"To be honest with you, we thought of it as just a summer fling with a Frenchwoman which you would forget. After all, it was a bad timing when she met us." Chilli blurted. Cress was furious enough to punch him in the plexus, now he was in no mood to control at all. Is fists were shaking of fury and now all they wanted was some eye candy.

"Just how could you think so low of her? I know she was a bit unreasonable with me, but that's no way to speak of her, especially when she will be your sister in law!" Cress yelled with all his might.

"Well we never wanted to get married to her in the first place!" Cilan hollered as she smashed his fists on the table with an unthinkable fury that could only emanate from him and him alone. Yet it was so strong and so intense that nobody could ever imagine it to be the same Cilan; unlike his usual demeanour though, this was filled with pure honesty, something Chilli possessed, and a seething contempt maybe only Grimsley could feel, or worse. One thing was sure, he was not lying and this in particular horrified Cress. He never knew that all this time, Cilan never wanted to bear the brunt of being a bother in law even though he had all the qualities for one, save his monstrous ego which prompted him to date the ditzy Burgundy instead if his strong young Iris. Cress just stared open mouthed. This was not working out for anyone.

Now feeling his mouth froth and his knees go jelly, Cress was sinking inside and even outside as his knees slumped to the floor in a shocked state with tears pouring out "Cilan, Chilli, why? Why was it that you never spoke to me that you didn't want an in-law? How come all this while you never said it until now? What soulless part of you inclined to say this at my darkest hour?"

They both looked dumbstruck as if they were doing themselves a big favour.

"It's not we dislike her or hate her. I mean, even if she is in her late forties, she has the grace of a 30 year old and she's nice, kind, compassionate and very beautiful!" Cilan stated. "But, we cannot let this go on any further. How can we possibly do any more for you now? If it involves us in this and we are not even allowed to make a decision, then screw this shit, we are NOT going to be in it!"

"What do you know about love? We all do stupid things. But in this case, I did this not because I am insane, but because I do love her! I want to spend the rest of my life with her and I do not care how short it is, it is my wife and I have every right to do what we feel like for we love each other and nothing can stop it! And how can you guys even dare to lecture me about love when neither of you know what it really is?!"

"Cilan, you don't even love Iris for Pete's sake! You are only in this to satisfy your own ego which is probably higher than Mt. Coronet and you know nothing of it- abandoning her just because she is stronger than you shows your own flawed character as a chauvinistic Grumpig! And Chilli shut up- you never had a date in 10 years and never will with that obnoxious personality! So shut it and let me be with her in peace!

I know that my words had shocked you, but Fortunately, I doubt I care." Cress stormed away in anger while the brothers were seething in shock, disgrace and contempt. Then they split ways, with intentions of severing ties with Cress.

Unfortunately, while Cilan was cursing his way to bed, a lobe figure overheard everything. She was shocked by how hard could Cress betray his own brothers and be so cold about everything. Breaking down, she wept hard and intensely. So much so that Chilli heard her but when he got to her, she was racing to her suitcase and packing up everything she had in sight.

"What are you doing Fanny?" Chilli asked worriedly. Fantina looked at him with tear stained eyes "Oh Chilli mon ami, how could I do something like this to your family? I am only breaking it. If his happiness and yours lies in my leaving, I must go. You must not stop me. Take care of Cress!" Fantina then after shoving everything, was racing for the door, still feeling sad and remorseful and wishing she knew better for the family who looked so desolate. A sudden pang came into Chilli- the brothers loved Fantina and her viovacious soul, only Cress' actions were condemnable. Then his face flushed seeing her cry. It was completely unlike Fantina and he felt horrible- why did he do this to her? It ate him inside. He walked closer to her and attempted to brush away her tears. Then, his face flustered in a deep shade of crimson when he brushed his ahdns on her cheeks. Finally realising what Fantina meant to him, he strode up with the confidence of a playboy and the shyness of a teenager. All those moments of his flustering whenever she held his hands in a loving fashion and those soft kisses on his forehead which amde him euphoric- he realised what really held him on all along. It was love.

"Fantina, please, do not go! We need you, he does, and I do!" Chilli was shocked by his own statement which made Fantina stare at him for a few second. Then he grabbed her hands accidentally and then in a moment of love, held her and then gently lay her across the wall, head touching across the green wallpaper with his eyes streaming with tears as he finally got to his emotions. Holding her ever slender and graceful waist, in that darkened room, he pursed his lips and leaned in, with no perversions or expectations, only that of a real lover.

"If you do not have him, Fantina, let me. I had to confess; I had to say this to you this for a long time, but... I love you!"...

* * *

**Okay guys,this is it! I now leave the whole thing to you. Who will Fantina pick for her lover, Chilli or Cress? The decision is yours alone, so use it wisely. Vote for it now and keep waiting! I'll be there when I feel it is time ;)**


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